Sep 10, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nate Diaz (red gloves) fights Tony Ferguson (blue gloves) during UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

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Tony Ferguson’s Next Fight: El Cucuy’s Announcement Gets Critiqued By UFC Veteran!

MMA’s truth-bomber critiques Tony Ferguson’s announcement strategy, calling out the flaws with his signature verbal precision!

Sep 10, 2022; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Nate Diaz (red gloves) fights Tony Ferguson (blue gloves) during UFC 279 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Few fighters have captured fans’ hearts quite like Tony Ferguson. The man who once moonwalked through the UFC lightweight division with a 12-fight win streak, bringing his unique blend of spinning elbows and unorthodox training methods, has now hit some rough patches lately.

‘El Cucuy’ was the boogeyman of the 155-pound division for years, making opponents question their career choices with his relentless pressure and sharp elbows. But time waits for no fighter and after his recent loss to Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi, his eighth straight defeat. Many thought they had seen the last of Ferguson when he left his glove in the octagon, a traditional symbol of retirement in combat sports.

Tony Ferguson teases "fight news" coming soon pic.twitter.com/RafZmSoRuy
— MMA Fighting (@MMAFighting) January 2, 2025

But hold your horses because Ferguson isn’t riding off into the sunset just yet. In true Tony fashion, he kicked off 2025 with a cryptic social media post hinting at “Fight News Coming Soon.”

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Chael Sonnen Takes Issue At Tony Ferguson’s Fight Announcement

Tony Ferguson’s announcement caught the attention of MMA’s resident truth-bomber, Chael Sonnen. The former UFC title challenger and master of verbal jabs couldn’t help but point out the flaws in Ferguson’s announcement strategy.

Sonnen, in his characteristic straight-shooting style, explained how this isn’t how the fight game usually works, especially for big-name fighters. He broke down the typical protocol on his YouTube channel: when a fighter signs with a promotion, the first rule is to keep quiet until the official announcement.

“If you sign somewhere, particularly if you were a name like Tony Ferguson, and that was going to be something interesting…The very first thing they would tell you is “Do not tell anybody. We are going to roll this out in our way.” Which is where Tony coming out and screaming, ‘I have news, oh I can’t tell you,’ just generally is not how this game is played.”

Sonnen’s take suggests that Tony Ferguson might be dealing with a different promotion altogether, possibly fighting outside the UFC since his contract might be up. The whole situation has that classic Tony Ferguson unpredictability to it, which, let’s be honest, is exactly what fans have come to expect from a guy who once kicked a metal pole to strengthen his shins and then hurt himself by tripping on a wire!

(Image Credit: Joe Camporeale – Imagn Images)

Chael Sonnen

Tony Ferguson

Tony Ferguson Next Fight

Zaid Quraishi

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I am a dedicated MMA and Boxing content writer at The Playoffs. I was instantly hooked on MMA after watching the fight between Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi back in 2014, and since then, i have been an avid writer with a deep love for the sport and its techniques, providing readers with a thorough understanding of the sport. My favorite aspect of working at The Playoffs is the creative freedom it provides. The diverse range of topics, from listicles and SEO to news articles, keeps me engaged and motivates me to continuously improve my skills! I aim to capture the excitement of the combat sports world in my writing, acting as the middleman between fighters and their die-hard fans. It is kind of like a referee, but with words!