It has been a tough three years in the Octagon for Tony Ferguson (25-9), but ‘El Cucuy’ has no plans of retiring, regardless of the result of his UFC 296 bout with Paddy Pimblett (20-3).
The bout will be featured on the main card for UFC 296 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Ferguson will aim to achieve his first win since 2019 and break a 6-fight losing streak. Meanwhile, Pimblett has racked up four straight wins since his UFC debut in September 2021, but the veteran Ferguson will by far be his biggest test to date.
Dana White on why Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett makes sense 👀 pic.twitter.com/nkfW32NQS7
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 27, 2023
Dana White believes that a loss to Pimblett would certainly result in Ferguson retiring, but it seems the former lightweight interim title challenger has other plans. After six straight losses, many competitors would consider laying the gloves down and ending their career, but Ferguson has a different mindset, and many consider the prospect of him turning things around with a win over “The Baddy” within the realm of possibility.
“I don’t want to retire. It’s not in my f*****g thought process, It’s not about getting cut, It’s not about doing all this stuff. It’s about competing. And what I did was I started competing without one, having fun, and two, really giving 100 percent into my training. I thought I did, but that means I have to be coachable, I have to be a student again. I have to ask for help,”
If Ferguson is able to get past Pimblett in their upcoming bout, he expressed interest in facing Conor McGregor next. As he moves closer to the end of his career, a big money fight versus McGregor seems like a picture perfect way to cap things off.
“I didn’t hear anything for a while. Then all of a sudden, I asked my agent and he ended up hitting me up saying we got something. I liked it. I have nothing against the kid. Patrick seems like a pretty legit dude. He gets pretty big, his standup is okay, but his ground game is a lot better,” Ferguson added. “I’m going to be real, I love fighting internationals. It’s cool, I love it. Going after Khabib for a long time and going after ‘McNuggets’, this is about as close as it’s going to get for right now. So as soon as we get through this dude, we’ll go after Conor if he’ll sign on the dotted line and get through USADA.”
Tony Ferguson on his upcoming bout with Paddy Pimblett:
Tony Ferguson vows to finish Paddy Pimblett 👀 #TheMMAHour
▶️ https://t.co/diSFwg5Ixu pic.twitter.com/vxvO6DEMnE
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) October 2, 2023