This past Saturday, Tony Ferguson (25-11) faced Michael Chiesa (17-7) in a welterweight bout at UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Many fans waited to see Ferguson end his losing streak. But it didn’t happen.
Chiesa defeated Ferguson by submission (rear-naked choke) at 3:44 in round 1. This was Ferguson’s eighth consecutive loss in UFC. After the fight, the former Interim UFC Lightweight Champion left one glove in the cage and threw the other glove into the crowd as he walked backstage. In the post-fight interview, he said the following:
“I don’t want to retire. But I love the UFC and I don’t want to go anywhere else. So, I’m not going to put both gloves down. I’m going to put one. I’m going to keep the other one just in case.”
In an interview with UFC Europe. Khabib Nurmagomedov said Tony Ferguson is one of the best MMA fighters in UFC and wished him well.
“It’s not a surprise for me because he’s [Ferguson] 40 years old. I just want to wish him all the best. He’s truly one of the best who ever was doing it in the UFC. I just want to wish him all the best. His life is just beginning because he’s just 40 years old and he just finished his MMA career. Now it’s going to be a different life. A much better life.”
🗣️: "It's not a surprise for me, I want to wish him all of the best!"
— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) August 3, 2024
Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts to THAT Tony Ferguson interview at #UFCAbuDhabi 🇦🇪@VisitAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | #InAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/AmYj06zvnS