Tony Ferguson Dropped From UFC Rankings For First Time In A Decade
Ferguson still says that he won't be retiring yet.
For the first time in over a decade, Tony Ferguson is not in the UFC lightweight rankings.
Ferguson has been on a five-fight losing streak since 2020. The last time he was victorious was in June 2019 when he stopped Donald Cerrone in the second round.
According to the UFC, rankings are created based on:
“Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.”
Ferguson suffered another blow to his resume when he faced Nate Diaz as a last-minute replacement in his farewell bout. He was submitted in the fourth round of the main event.
His other losses have been handed by the division’s top contenders including Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira, Beneil Dariush and Michael Chandler.
Prior to that, the veteran fighter had been on a 12-fight winning streak, and was listed in the Top 15 of the 155-pound division.
Despite the winless skid, Ferguson said his time isn’t up yet.
“When I feel like I’m ready to retire, I will retire. But right now, it’s a little bit different, a little more interesting,” Ferguson previously told ESPN.
“With that being said, ‘DC’ and all these commentators that just keep repeating the same s–t over the years – because that’s what they want me to do. They want the public eye to see me like that and they want to see me as a quitter and so on and so forth.”