UFC Fight Night News: Tony Ferguson Responds to Dana White’s Calls for Retirement

Ferguson has lost seven fights in a row ahead of his return against Michael Chiesa at UFC Fight Night: Abu Dhabi.

Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Tony Ferguson agrees to disagree with Dana White that Saturday night will be his final UFC fight.

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The former UFC interim champion used to be on top of the world with a 12-fight win streak in the lightweight division, but nothing lasts forever as Ferguson now finds himself on the worst losing skid in UFC history with seven-straight defeats - tied with BJ Penn.

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Dana White: "I Would Love To See Tony Retire..."

Despite the losses, Ferguson will fight on, this time at UFC Abu Dhabi when he battles fellow veteran Michael Chiesa. Following his most recent defeat to Paddy Pimblett in December, UFC CEO White insisted that Ferguson should hang up the gloves.

"I would love to see Tony retire," White said at the UFC 296 post-fight press conference. "When you talk about a skid, right, you look at the guys he fought, too. That plays a factor into it and how did he look right up until he lost. Tony, tonight, looked like he should retire."

Ferguson has lost to some of the best fighters in the world at lightweight, including Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler as well as welterweight, where he returns this weekend against Chiesa.

UFC star Tony Ferguson. / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Ferguson On White Wanting Him To Retire

At UFC Abu Dhabi media day, Ferguson was asked about White's comments regarding a potential retirement, to which he responded:

"Well, we want Dana to do a lot of s***, too," Ferguson said (via MMA Fighting). "So, we can't discredit that one either. I mean, I'm being real with it at 170 pounds. I'm not killing myself to get to 155. I do feel fresher. 155 pounds is closer to my high school wrestling weight, 152 pounds. So you guys do the math. I'm 40 f****** years old. I've been competing in this sport for a very long time, all around in sports for over 35 years."

"I don't feel like this can be my last fight," Ferguson added. "I have to do some extraordinary s*** is what I'm planning to do."

UFC's Tony Ferguson in his last fight against Paddy Pimblett. / Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

Ferguson Says He Has "Plenty Of Fights Left" In Him

While Ferguson is unsure on how many fights he has left on his current UFC contract, "El Cucuy" plans to keep competing for as long as he can - well into his forties.

"I love this company, and I have plenty of fights left," Ferguson continued. "But this is not a fight, last or first, or whatever the f*** how everybody wants to see it. I feel so f****** fresh, like it's a completely different look."

Feeling better than ever, Tony Ferguson revealed that he's back to sparring after seven years of not doing so, putting in 120 rounds of sparring en route to his next fight against Michael Chiesa. Let's see if the change in preparation helps him any at UFC Abu Dhabi as Ferguson attempts to return to his winning ways for the first time since 2019.

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