Justin Gaethje became the UFC BMF title holder after defeating Dustin Poirier at UFC 291 on July 29th. ‘The Diamond‘ was knocked out by a head kick from Gaethje at the main event of the night. The main card had some other exciting fights too.
Former UFC interim champion Tony Ferguson also returned to the Octagon to lock horns with Bobby Green in a lightweight clash. ‘El Cucuy’ showcased his striking combinations in the first few minutes and even secured a takedown but apart from it, there was not much success for him against ‘The King’. Much to his despise, Ferguson got poked by Green in the eye, which seemed to affect his vision.
An arm triangle choke followed in the third round for the MMA veteran, giving him his sixth consecutive loss in the UFC. When Justin Gaethje was asked about Ferguson’s defeat at UFC 291, he had mixed opinions about his former opponent.
Gaethje addressed the fact that Ferguson had his chances when he stepped inside the octagon with Green, as he even managed to drop him once. “Fighting is dangerous and unforgiving. He did not take an a*s-whopping; he dropped him down. Same thing he did against Chandler.”
“I think it is good and bad. We always have a chance. If you step in there, you have a chance,” added the BMF champion in the post-match conference.
Justin Gaethje rejects the theory that he is responsible for Tony Ferguson’s decline
Tony Ferguson had a 12-win streak in the UFC before he lost to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 in May 2020. This marked ‘El Cucuy’s’ downfall, as he has not been able to win a single fight ever since.
When Makoa Golbe of LowKick MMA asked Gaethje if he felt responsible for the decline of the UFC veteran, he straight away disagreed. “No, I’m not responsible for that. The shots he took that night, the amount of shots he took, I don’t think it changed… I didn’t take confidence from him, but did our experience together make him lose confidence in his abilities?” said Justin Gaethje.
‘The Highlight’ also added that luck could also be a factor that led to Tony’s decline. Gaethje and Ferguson clashed for the UFC lightweight interim title in 2020, but the two are at different career points right now. While Gaethje will eye another title shortly, for Ferguson, it looks like the beginning of the end.
His fans often argue that ‘Tony in his prime’ would make easy work of any fighter, including Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, that does not matter anymore, as the lightweight fighter now looks far from his prime.
