Tony Ferguson removed from the UFC lightweight rankings for the first time in over a decade

Tony Ferguson, the former interim lightweight champion, has been removed from the UFC lightweight rankings for the first time in over a decade.

The UFC recently updated its official rankings following the UFC Vegas 66 fight card last Saturday night, December 17th, 2022.

The new rankings show no Tony Ferguson in the Top 15 at 155 pounds.

Tony Ferguson, ‘El Cucuy’, (25-8 MMA) has the dismal record of losing his last 5 fights in the Octagon. Ferguson most recently lost to Nate Diaz (21-13 MMA) in September of this year at UFC 279. The Californian was also defeated by Michael Chandler (23-8 MMA), Beneil Dariush (22-4 MMA), Charles Oliveira (33-9 MMA) and Justin Gaethje. (23-4 MMA).

Prior to those 5 losses, the 38-year-old had been on a 12-fight winning streak.

Ferguson’s last victory in the Octagon was back in June of 2019 when he defeated Donald Cerrone (36-17 MMA) by TKO at UFC 238.

The UFC compiles its official rankings as follows:

‘Rankings were generated by a voting panel made up of media members. The media members were asked to vote for who they feel are the top fighters in the UFC by weight-class and pound-for-pound. A fighter is only eligible to be voted on if they are in active status in the UFC. A fighter can appear in more than one weight division at a time. The champion and interim champion are considered to be in the top positions of their respective divisions and therefore are not eligible for voting by weight-class. However, the champions can be voted on for the pound-for-pound rankings.’

It’s definitely another blow for the soon to be 39-year-old fighter.

This past September, following his loss to Diaz, Ferguson spoke to ‘ESPN‘ about retirement saying:

“When I feel like I’m ready to retire, I will retire. But right now, it’s a little bit different, a little more interesting. With that being said, ‘DC’ and all these commentators that just keep repeating the same s**t over the years – because that’s what they want me to do. They want the public eye to see me like that and they want to see me as a quitter and so on and so forth.”

Do you think Ferguson can turn the tide and get back in the win column? Who would you like to see ‘El Cucuy’ fight next?

Share your thoughts in the comment section PENN Nation!