Tony Ferguson will be back in lightweight elite with win over Beneil Dariush at UFC 262, says Dana White

UFC president Dana White says that Tony Ferguson will be back in the lightweight elite with a win over Beneil Dariush at UFC 262.

Ferguson is coming off of a rough 2020 that saw him lose via TKO to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 and then via unanimous decision to Charles Oliveira at UFC 256. Coming into the year, Ferguson was one of the top-three lightweights in the world, but after losing in such one-sided fashion to both Gaethje and Oliveira, it’s fair to question where he sits in the division now. At age 37, Ferguson is one of the oldest lightweights on the UFC roster and after seeing how poorly he performed, there are many fans who think he’s on a sharp decline.

That being said, while Ferguson surely would love to have those losses to Gaethje and Oliveira back, he has a big opportunity this weekend at UFC 262 to get back in the winner’s circle against a top contender in the form of Dariush, who has won his last six fights in a row. Ferguson vs. Dariush is one of the best fights on the entire card and the winner will put themselves in a good position in the stacked UFC lightweight division. For Ferguson, especially, this is an important fight, as a win would push him back into the elite at 155.

Speaking to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, White confirmed that a big win over Dariush at UFC 262 this weekend and Ferguson will be right on top of the lightweight division once again.

“It’s a big fight for him, man. He’s a huge fan favorite so if he comes in and he performs, he’ll be right back on top of the game. We just gotta see which Tony Ferguson shows up,” White said.

Do you think Tony Ferguson has what it takes to beat Beneil Dariush at UFC 262?