When will it end? Tony Ferguson is definitely not thinking about the end of his career and even overlooking his next opponent! Who does he want to challenge after Pimblett?

Tony Ferguson is experiencing a steep decline after becoming one of the legendary figures of the UFC lightweight division. Many fans and pundits alike are sending the organization’s veteran into combat retirement. However, he himself doesn’t want to hear about this option and still sets the highest goals for himself.

After becoming a lightweight legend, Tony Ferguson is experiencing a steep decline

He became famous for his exciting fights and incredible winning streak. But a loss to the current BMF title holder changed something in him and he has been waiting for a win for over three years. But he’s not thinking about retiring from fighting just yet.

Tony Ferguson came to the UFC in 2011 as the winner of the reality show The Ultimate Fighter 13 and immediately made an indelible mark in the hearts of all fans. Not only did he win fight after fight, but his comprehensive skills entertained all mixed martial arts fans.

Up to 2020, he racked up fifteen wins in sixteen fights, eleven of which he finished before the limit. During this period, he even recorded a streak of an incredible twelve wins in a row and became the interim UFC lightweight champion.

However, his fatal fight came in May 2020 when he faced the upstart Justin Gaethje. In the interim championship fight, he took a crazy beating from the early rounds until Herb Dean decided to end the fight early in the fifth round. A sad sight indeed for a battered legend.

From that moment on, it was as if the fans didn’t even recognize him, even though he promised them a return to winning ways after his losses. In the years that followed, he racked up an unflattering streak of six straight defeats and even his supporters were calling for his career to end.

Even after six straight losses, he’s not thinking about retirement and even overlooking his next opponent

But in the fights he was no longer the Ferguson we know from earlier years and the crowd no longer recognized the fire of the fighter in him. Now he’s scheduled to fight at December’s UFC 296 in Las Vegas, where he’ll take on the organization’s rising star Paddy Pimblett, who hasn’t tasted the bitterness of defeat in the UFC yet.

Although few people give Ferguson a chance to succeed, he himself is not thinking of leaving and is already challenging the organization’s next star. “I don’t want to retire, it’s not in my f*cking thought process. It’s about competing,” Ferguson said in an interview with ESPN.

“As soon as we get through this dude (Pimblett), we´ll go after Conor if he´ll sign on the dotted line and get through USADA,” he spelled out his future plans. The fact that he’s already looking beyond his next opponent certainly won’t please his fans.

🚨| Tony Ferguson is eyeing a fight with Conor McGregor should he beat Paddy Pimblett at #UFC296.

“As soon as we get through this dude (Pimblett), we’ll go after Conor if he’ll sign on the dotted line and get through USADA.”

[per @bokamotoESPN / @espnmma] #UFC296 #UFC #MMA pic.twitter.com/6VHwNOADIZ

— MMA Orbit (@mma_orbit) October 2, 2023

Source: ESPN, UFC, Twitter/X