The End of Tony Ferguson’s Career Takes Place on Saturday

Ferguson fights Michael Chiesa on Saturday at the UFC on ABC card

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 / Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

Extra Mustard is a weekly column looking at the highs and lows–and everything in between–in combat sports and beyond.

It had to end this way.

Tony Ferguson is a fighter. Throughout his Hall of Fame career, he built a career on resolve and an unwillingness to quit.

But strengths often become weaknesses. And therein lies the problems with Ferguson, who is one loss away from becoming the sole owner of the longest losing streak in UFC history.

Ferguson was never going to walk away. He wasn’t built that way. That toughness and defiance helped produce a remarkable 12-fight win streak in the UFC. But now we have arrived on the other side, where a battered and defeated Ferguson refuses to step away from the cage, despite being well past his fighting expiration date.

Ferguson, 40, fights Michael Chiesa on Saturday during the UFC on ABC card in Abu Dhabi. That is where Ferguson will step into the Octagon for his final fight.

At least it better be.

Tony Ferguson enters his fight on Saturday with a seven-fight losing streak / Zuffa LLC

Once the most feared fighter in the sport, Ferguson has lost seven in a row. It started off in an unassuming manner, when a loss to a red-hot Justin Gaethje ended any chance we’d ever witness the Ferguson-Khabib Nurmagomedov fight (and yes, I still believe Ferguson would have won). That was followed by an absolute mauling by Charles Oliveira. Then a one-sided loss against Beneil Dariush. Then getting his face kicked in by Michael Chandler. Then Nate Diaz beat him, one of only two Diaz victories from the past eight years.

It doesn’t end there. Next was Bobby Green. Then Paddy Pimblett. With each loss, the excuses mounted. It was an eye poke. Or incompetence from the ref. But Ferguson knows the facts–at some point, you become your record. And Ferguson–despite all his past excellence–is a fighter who no longer belongs in the UFC.

Ferguson (25-10) has nothing left to prove. He could lose his next 25 fights and he’d remain one of the all-time greats.

What exactly does a win against Chiesa (16-7) prove? And does anyone else get the sense that a win will only further embolden Ferguson?

Chiesa, 36, has dropped his last three bouts, and he looks increasingly closer to retirement with each defeat. It would be nice for Ferguson to end his career with a win, but the fight business isn’t built around kindness. A win would also be ceremonial–it does not alter or enhance any of his past brilliance, and it doesn’t change the past. A loss isn’t pleasant, as Ferguson will break the current tie with BJ Penn’s seven-fight losing streak and sit alone with a new record.

There is no joy or pleasure in seeing Ferguson repeatedly taste defeat. This isn’t Michael Jordan in a Washington Wizards jersey–it’s more like Clyde Frazier walking around Cleveland with the morbid Cavaliers looking for his Rolls, which was back in New York.

The last few fights have simply delayed the inevitable. It’s over, and it has been over for quite some time.

Win or lose, the end of Ferguson’s UFC career comes to its official end on Saturday.