Tony Ferguson issues statement following UFC 256 loss to Charles Oliveira

Former interim lightweight champ Tony Ferguson has issued a statement following his unanimous decision defeat at UFC 256 to Charles Oliveira.

Despite entering the contest as the betting favorite to get his hand raised, Ferguson suffered a one-sided defeat as Oliveira pretty much dominated the former interim champ for the full 15 minutes of the bout. Oliveira had the upper hand in the striking department and proved to be the superior wrestler as well, as he dominated Ferguson for 15 minutes en route to a unanimous decision victory. It’s eight straight wins in a row now for Oliveira, while for Ferguson the loss was his second straight defeat.

Following his loss to Oliveira at UFC 256, Ferguson took to his social media to release a statement about the fight. Check out what “El Cucuy” wrote on his social media below.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CIzUPYahIdr/?igshid=151mnklnbs4w6

“My crew. No excuses, I fell flat.” Tony Ferguson wrote. “I went out and welcomed the attack instead of defend. The warm up time in the back for UFC hasn’t been the same since pre-covid. Still no excuses, times change and so do people. The time from the hotel to the UFC Apex is much more condensed and the aggressive level we needed was not reached.”

Tony Ferguson continued:

”After the fight, we were checked by doctors and went back to the hotel. I felt it was in order to hit pads and spar immediately because the fight was fresh in my mind and blood circulation in my arm was needed. I really needed to figure out what the F’n problem was from the fight. Solution: Pre-fight time management.”

After losing to Oliveira by lopsided decision, Ferguson is now on a two-fight losing skid after getting knocked out by Justin Gaethje back at UFC 249. Although Ferguson will still be ranked in the top-10 at lightweight after losing to the No. 7 ranked Oliveira, it’s clear that he is not the same fighter that he was just a few short years ago. It’s not like he is at risk of being one of the 60 fighters that the UFC will release in the new few weeks, but Ferguson is absolutely at a crossroads in his MMA career right now.

Following UFC 256, White said that he wanted Ferguson to take some time off and spend it with his family and figure out what he wants to do. At age 36, Ferguson should still have a few more years left in the sport, at least. But at this point, it’s hard to really consider him a legitimate title contender after losing two fights in a row.

What do you think is next for Tony Ferguson after losing to Charles Oliveira?