Tony Ferguson doesn’t expect UFC Abu Dhabi bout to be his last, only wants to fight for UFC

Tony Ferguson has no plans to retire anytime soon.

The fan-favorite veteran enters Saturday’s UFC Abu Dhabi card looking to snap a seven-fight losing streak as he meets Michael Chiesa in a welterweight bout. UFC CEO Dana White has made it clear that he’d like to see Ferguson hang up the gloves, but “El Cucuy” sees new life for himself with a return to the 170-pound division.

“I’m 40-f*cking-years old,” Ferguson said at UFC Abu Dhabi media day. “I’ve been competing in this sport for a very long time, all around in sports for over 35 years. Kind of crazy. Wrestled in college at 165. 170 is what I won The Ultimate Fighter at. Michael Chiesa won it at 155. We do the math, we do the numbers, you’re not supposed to go backwards. I’ve been fighting backwards my whole entire time, trying to just stay there for who-God-knows-f*cking-what reason.

“Hundred-and-seventy pounds, I feel comfortable. I don’t feel like this is going to be my last fight. I have to do some extraordinary shit, is what I’m planning to do.”

Ferguson, once a top contender at lightweight, hasn’t won a fight since a doctor stoppage of Donald Cerrone in June 2019. Following that victory, he ran into a murderer’s row of opponents, including Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush, and Michael Chandler, all of whom contributed to Ferguson’s current spiral. In his most recent outing, Ferguson lost a unanimous decision to Paddy Pimblett.

An eighth consecutive loss could reasonably signal the end of Ferguson’s UFC run. Should the promotion cut ties with him, Ferguson has no desire to compete elsewhere.

“I love the UFC and this is where I’m going to stay,” Ferguson said. “So I have to earn that right. I do have seven losses, who gets an eighth chance when it goes into this except for me? I don’t ever ask for a lot of shit so I’m asking myself to go out there and do the best performance I probably can, so that way I can retain my spot.

“I do want to be here. I don’t want to go fight for another organization. Where the f*ck am I going to go, BKFC and have Conor [McGregor] work for me again? No, I don’t want to do that shit. Literally, this is home. It’s always been home. If it comes down to it, maybe I’ll open up my own promotion. There’s a lot of different business routes that I want to go and I believe that the younger generation is waiting for me to f*cking do something. I’ve been doing a lot of different things, I just haven’t taken that next step because, well, I’m not ready yet. When I’m ready, maybe so, but not yet.”

Much has been made about Ferguson’s feverish preparation for this weekend’s pivotal bout, though his opponent Chiesa has been dismissive of Ferguson’s training talk. Chiesa’s opinion matters little to Ferguson, who feels as locked in as ever despite his his poor run of form in recent years.

“No,” Ferguson said, when asked if this will be his last fight. “I have this game plan. As soon as I get done here, I’m going to study. So I just got done with an hour and a half of cardio. It was 20 bike, 20 tread, 20 elliptical, and 20 on row. And then before that I did 18 rounds. So my body is activated and to be as focused as I am right now, I’m taking this not as a ‘kill kill kill’ kind of thing, because that’s never the guy I was. But more of an athlete, as in I’m going to outpoint you, I’m going to f*cking work you, I’m going to make you want to get the f*ck out of there.

“So Chiesa is going to have his hands full. Respect, but the respect ends as soon as that cage door closes.”