UFC commentator Daniel Cormier doesn’t buy into the idea that Tony Ferguson is back.
‘El Cucuy’ is fresh off his headlining role against Nate Diaz at UFC 279 on Saturday. Ferguson was originally supposed to face Li Jingliang at the event, instead of the Stockton native. However, after Khamzat Chimaev missed weight, the former champion was bumped up.
In the main event, the Stockton native scored a fourth-round submission to earn the win. The defeat was Ferguson’s fourth in a row, and his second stoppage loss in a row. He was previously knocked out by Michael Chandler at UFC 274 in May.
Despite the defeat, Tony Ferguson seemed to be pleased with his performance. The 38-year-old stated that he felt he was back to his old self, and that he fought well. To his credit, the fight was close, and one judge had him winning headed into the championship rounds.
However, Daniel Cormier would disagree with the former champion’s asseessment. ‘DC’ discussed the loss to Diaz on his YouTube channel. There, the former dual-weight champion stated that Ferguson did have his moments in the matchup.
Despite that, the 43-year-old doesn’t believe that the welterweight should believe he’s back. Cormier also opined that Ferguson’s fast decline has been the most concerning part of his losing streak.
“The most discouraging thing about it is Tony Ferguson’s decline,” Cormier said. “It’s sad because for so long, he was so good in a weight division where it was hard to become the champion. So he only held a portion of the belt by becoming interim champion, but Tony Ferguson at his peak was as good as anybody in the UFC. But his decline now has been very steep, and it hasn’t been gradual. It was very fast how he kind of fell off a cliff.” (h/t MMAJunkie)
He continued, “I’m kind of interested to see what Tony Ferguson is going to do next. He said he’s back when the fight was over, and I don’t know what guided him to believe that he’s back in that performance. Sure, he did some things well. But I don’t believe for a second that Tony Ferguson should have taken that performance and feel like he’s building toward something.”
Cormier concluded, “It was a good fight, but what never leaves a guy is his toughness, and Nate Diaz’s toughness was on full display inside the octagon. Tony Ferguson hurt him a lot with those inside leg kicks, and the moment the fight was over, when Nate went to leave the octagon, he was limping very bad because his leg was beat up.”
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