Daniel Cormier: Tony Ferguson at his peak was as good as anybody, but decline has been ‘very steep’
Daniel Cormier wonders how Tony Ferguson’s career suddenly took a downturn.
Ferguson (25-8 MMA, 15-6 UFC) once was on a 12-fight winning streak that included interim lightweight title in 2016 and nine post-fight bonuses. However, “El Cucuy” has lost five in a row, including the first knockout and submission losses of his UFC career.
He was submitted by Nate Diaz in this past Saturday’s UFC 279 main event, but Ferguson declared that he was “back,” which baffled Cormier.
“The most discouraging thing about it is Tony Ferguson’s decline,” Cormier said on his YouTube channel. “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.
“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 has been vocal about Ferguson’s decline on multiple occasions and was hoping he would show him something in the Diaz fight. He found his fight with Diaz odd, but did credit him for effectively chopping away at Diaz’s legs.
“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,” Cormier said. “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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