Tony Ferguson has responded to a recent claim that he’ll be cut from the UFC roster after his unanimous decision loss to Charles Oliveira.
Ferguson’s loss to Oliveira pushed him onto a two-fight skid, as he was also defeated by Justin Gaethje by TKO back in May. While losses to Gaethje and Oliveira—two of the best lightweights on earth—are certainly excusable, the UFC is currently downsizing it’s roster, and after the release of fighters like Jussier Formiga and Yoel Romero, it seems that nobody is safe from the chopping block.
While it definitely seems unlikely that Ferguson will be released from the UFC, former referee John McCarthy thinks it’s in the cards.
“I think they’re going to cut him,” McCarthy said on his Weighing In podcast with co-host Josh “The Punk” Thomson, who Ferguson defeated in 2015 (via The Body Lock). “I could be wrong about that but the reason I say it is first off, Tony has always had an adversarial relationship with certain people with the UFC. He’s felt like he’s been held back, cheated in certain things. And so you have that. That’s okay, you can say those things when you’re winning.
“But now you take a look at his last two performances — the Justin Gaethje fight, he fought his ass off but he got beat badly. And now this one, he got beat badly. So you look at your lightweights and you go, ‘alright, is Tony Ferguson going to be fighting for the title?’ That ain’t going to happen. You would figure he would have to win somewhere between four or five fights in a row against top talent and that’s probably not going to happen.
“So, he’s not going to fight for the title. So you’re going to keep him for what reasons now? So he can beat your young talent that’s not smart and wise enough to fight with him at this time? That’s not going to do you any good as a promotion. So I don’t know, I just look and say he might be one of the guys in that 60.”
It didn’t take Ferguson long to catch wind of this comment from McCarthy, and he unsurprisingly wasn’t pleased with what he heard from the former ref. Speaking during a recent Instagram live broadcast, Ferguson responded to these claims that he’ll be cut from the UFC.
Tony Ferguson responds to John McCarthy and Josh Thompson’s rumors that he’s getting cut 😂 pic.twitter.com/QNOn5aVljc
— Sasuke ➐🎄 (@UFC_Sasuke) December 17, 2020
“Question for John McCarthy and the ‘Punk.’ No, I’m not fucking getting cut,” Ferguson said. “Josh, come on, dog. You got your ass kicked. Don’t start that shit, come on now.
“The fans love me, okay? They want to see me fight again. I love you guys too.”
What do you think the future holds for Tony Ferguson after UFC 256?