Tony Ferguson Speaks On UFC 256 Loss To Charles Oliveira
Tony Ferguson has issued a statement following his UFC 256 defeat.
On December 12, Ferguson shared the Octagon with Charles Oliveira. The lightweight collision served as the co-main event of UFC 256. Ferguson was hoping to rebound from his TKO loss to Justin Gaethje but it wasn’t meant to be. Instead, Ferguson was outclassed in the grappling department, although he showed tremendous heart by surviving a nasty armbar and going the distance. Oliveira scored the unanimous decision win, marking the first time that “El Cucuy” has suffered back-to-back losses.
In an Instagram post, Ferguson discussed his loss to “do Bronx” (h/t MMAFighting.com).
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“No excuses. I felt flat. I went out and welcomed the attack instead of defend. The warm-up time in the back for UFC hasn’t been the same since pre-COVID. Still no excuses. Times change and so do people. The time from hotel to UFC APEX is much more condensed and the aggressive level we needed was not reached. My fault.
“After the fight, we were checked by doctors and went back to the hotel. I felt it was in order to hit pads/spar immediately because the fight was fresh in my mind and blood circulation in my arm was needed. I really needed to figure out what the f’n problem was from the fight. Solution. Pre-fight time management.”
With the loss, Ferguson is likely to take a significant fall in the official UFC lightweight rankings. “El Cucuy” held the number three spot before his loss to Oliveira, who was ranked number seven.
Many are now left to wonder just how much Ferguson has left in the tank. Ferguson will turn 37 years old in February and in the stacked lightweight division, the mentality of “you’re only as good as your last fight” rings loud.