Tony Ferguson dismisses talk of retirement ahead of UFC 291: ‘I’m just barely hitting my prime’
Former interim lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson has claimed he is still in his fighting prime ahead of his return to the Octagon at UFC 291 this weekend, shutting down any potential plans for a retirement from combat sports.
Ferguson, a former interim lightweight champion under the banner of the UFC, has been sidelined since he headlined UFC 279 back in September of last year, suffering his fifth consecutive loss in the form of a fourth round guillotine choke defeat to Nate Diaz in an impromptu welterweight headliner.
Tony Ferguson denies talk of any potential retirement
Making a lightweight division return this weekend, the Oxnard native takes on fellow veteran striker, Bobby Green on the main card of UFC 291, and despite riding a career-worst run – after previously embarking on a division-best 12-fight winning run, Ferguson insists he has no intention of calling time on his storied career.
“I feel at this point in time in my life, I’m barely hitting my prime, which is crazy,” Tony Ferguson told assembled media ahead of UFC 291. “One of my coaches, Juan, earlier we were doing mitts between interviews and I told him, ‘I’d be getting up eatly, I have to lay down, I know I have to lay down.’ And I got up and did my interview, and I was like, ‘Hey, is the room open. He went down and said yeah, I said, ‘I’d be right there, bring your mitts.’ I didn’t even wrap up, and I hit pads.”
“Nobody else is going to tell me (to retire),” Tony Ferguson explained. “They can propose to say, “Oh, Tony, whatever. He’s going to retire.’ No, motherf*ckers. F*ck you. I’m going to be done when I want to be done. But I’m also going to have to do what I have to do to get to where I want to get. Five fights and a title, baby.”
