Tony Ferguson was considered one of the top lightweights in the UFC during a remarkable 12-fight winning streak that was supposed to lead him to a championship showdown against Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Unfortunately injuries, bad timing, and eventually the global pandemic, nixed that fight from ever happening and Ferguson’s unbeaten run finally came to an end with a loss to Justin Gaethje in an interim lightweight title fight in 2020. That setback sent Ferguson reeling in the exact opposite direction
before ultimately suffering eight losses in a row before his run with the UFC came to an end.
While Ferguson briefly teased retirement, he never seriously considered walking away from combat sports but he had plenty of people telling him it was time to call it a career — including former UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar, who served as his coach on The Ultimate Fighter.
“I had a conversation with coach Brock [Lesnar] and I asked him, I can’t remember after what loss it was or whatever fight it was and coach always says the same stuff: Save your money and pay your taxes,” Ferguson told MMA Fighting. “Never really f*cking blow it on too much stuff. A smart f*cking guy. Save your money [he tells me] every f*cking time.
“The other thing was [he said] ‘you should think about retiring, Tony.’”
Now hearing that definitely stung, but Ferguson admits that like it or not, he had to take the advice to heart because he had so much respect for Lesnar. It was much harder to ignore than the loud chorus of voices from outside the sport telling him he was washed up and shouldn’t bother fighting again.
“Why would I listen to anybody who’s not in my shoes?” Ferguson said. “You’re not here. You don’t know what the f*ck it takes to be here. You might have your f*cking opinion, but you don’t f*cking sit here and go through the bullshit here with me. Nobody f*cking does. Through the ice baths, through the f*cking sauna, through the f*cking running, the late night bikes, nobody f*cking does that shit.
“For you guys to critique me, and f*cking any other person that’s coming out here and doing this shit, [f*ck you].’”
During that same conversation with Lesnar about the future, Ferguson found the wisdom he needed to figure out what was next for him.
After spending 13 years in the UFC with most of that time near the top of the lightweight division, Ferguson was largely going through the motions. He never used the words “burned out,” but he wasn’t finding the same joy competing in the UFC as he once did.
But Lesnar inspired him with another piece of advice that allowed Ferguson to move forward with a renewed sense of purpose.
“I asked coach Brock, I said coach what do guys like us do when we retire?” Ferguson explained. “I value his opinion and he said ‘you know what Tony, find your second passion and follow that with everything you’ve got like you did your first.’
“Sports is my passion. I love sports. I love competing. I love competing at a high level, a very high level.”
Realizing that he still wanted to compete and retirement just wasn’t an option for him, Ferguson turned his attention to a new combat sport when he signed with Misfits Boxing and immediately got thrown into a title fight for his debut.
Back in August, Ferguson scored a knockout win in his debut — the first victory he’d tasted since 2019 — and it felt really good. He captured the interim Misfits Boxing middleweight title, but more importantly, the win and his performance, proved to Ferguson that he still had plenty of fight left in him.
“I love this sport,” Ferguson said about boxing. “Never been allowed to play it. Here I am. 2026 is around the corner so I wanted to fight 2025, we’re going to finish this year f*cking strong, and dammit, I’m excited. I am excited.”
As far as Lesnar telling him to retire, Ferguson understood why that was the advice he initially received. It had nothing to do with Lesnar losing faith in him as a fighter but rather caring so much that he didn’t want to see Ferguson suffer any more harm in his career.
“I understand why he would say that,” Ferguson said. “When you have your athletes, the last thing you want to do is see them get hurt. That’s from any sport. That’s just how it goes. Because they’re underneath your care, you’re supposed to care like that. At least you have that relationship with your athlete.
“Brock’s my coach. What the f*ck? I got brought out the Death Clutch. Who gets brought out to Death Clutch to train under Team Lesnar like that?”
But now Ferguson believes he really has found that second passion with boxing and he’s putting everything into the sport with his second fight scheduled on Saturday when he clashes with Warren Spencer at Misfits Mania in Dubai.
While he’s not shutting any doors when it comes to a return to MMA or maybe competing in some grappling or wrestling matches, Ferguson feels rejuvenated with this latest stage in his career.
“This is that new chapter where I had to be able to say goodbye,” Ferguson said. “I had say goodbye to the old me. Whatever the f*ck that was during the pandemic that I created, I didn’t like, and I tried to beat the shit out of it and I got rid of it.
“Through sparring and through some good things, I brought back a certain character of mine that I really needed and I missed a long time. That’s just real stuff. Because you don’t find that unless you’re really f*cking working and moving.”
As far as the future goes, Ferguson wants to stay busy and he’s open for business when it comes to whatever opportunities come his way.
But don’t expect him to suffer another setback somewhere along the way and then suddenly consider hanging up his gloves for good.
“I’m never retiring,” Ferguson said emphatically. “I’m never f*cking retiring. You can omit that shit away from me.”
