UFC News: "Good Chance" Michael Chiesa Would've Retired with Tony Ferguson Loss

Chiesa reflects on his last fight against Ferguson: "If I can't get past him, what am I doing here?"

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Tony Ferguson wasn't the only fighter at UFC Abu Dhabi with retirement on his mind...

UFC News: Tony Ferguson Half-Retires After 8th-Straight Loss

Ferguson's opponent, UFC veteran Michael Chiesa, had also wondered how many fights he had left in him heading into his return last weekend. Chiesa came back after a year away to snap a three-fight losing streak, submitting Ferguson with a rear-naked choke in the opening round to get back to the win column for the first time in three years.

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'There's A Good Chance' Chiesa Would've Retired From MMA, Had He Lost To Ferguson

Chiesa would extend Ferguson's losing streak to eight in the process - the longest skid in UFC history.

While Chiesa didn't exactly look to "El Cucuy" as a retirement fight, the 36-year-old says he probably would've called it quits on MMA had he lost to Ferguson, seeing as though he hadn't won a fight since before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"I'm getting to this latter stage in my career where I kind of - this wasn't going to be my last fight," Chiesa said on the Anik & Florian Podcast. "That was never the plan. But to be honest with you, if Tony beat me, there's a good chance I probably wouldn't compete again as an MMA fighter. I would move on. Like, if I can't get past him, what am I doing here? I'm just gonna get myself hurt..."

UFC fighter Michael Chiesa. / Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

More Fights On The Agenda?

Knowing that a loss would have been detrimental to his career, Chiesa isn't planning on hanging up the gloves and is holding his head up high with a quick win turned in against Ferguson.

"I made a deal with my wife where she doesn't care what I do. She's gonna support me no matter what. But I told her, I go, 'However long this fight takes is really gonna dictate how much longer I fight. If I got to go to a decision and it's 29-28, it might be time to just maybe have one more...' But I said "The shorter this fight is, if I can finish him, that's gonna dictate how long I'm gonna go on for,'" Chiesa said of his MMA longetivity.

"So, I didn't expect the first-round finish. I expected something late in the second. So I was thinking, 'Okay, we'll get a couple more in.' But with things going the way they did, yeah, I ain't stopping anytime soon, buddy," Chiesa added.

A professional fighter dating back to 2010, Michael Chiesa has been on the UFC roster for quite some time, winning a promotional contract on Season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter back in 2012.

Ferguson's Future

As for the man he beat, Tony Ferguson (another TUF winner) isn't too keen on retiring but may have to following his eighth-straight loss.

Ferguson laid down one glove inside the UFC Octagon, signifying he was still on the fence about the whole ordeal and that he would have to think it through with his family and the people around him.

It's not a goodbye, but it's a see ya later.. @TonyFergusonXT is leaving only ONE glove in the Octagon tonight. The other will go home with him after #UFCAbuDhabi #InAbuDhabi | @InAbuDhabi | @VisitAbuDhabi pic.twitter.com/YCRjeXqMfv

— UFC (@ufc) August 3, 2024

If Ferguson does intend to keep on fighting but is not given another fight in the UFC, the 40-year-old has floated the idea of potentially fighting outside of the organization.

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

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