Issue 188

February 2020

Tony Ferguson has known tough times in his career but finally the showdown he craves with Khabib Nurmagomedov looks set to happen and with it the chance to establish himself as one of the sport’s legends.

Tony Ferguson's much-awaited contest with Khabib Nurmagomedov will crown an undisputed champion at lightweight in the UFC on April 18, in Brooklyn, New York. That’s how he sees it. Five years in the making. Too long, but now here. A contest that every fight aficionado has craved and will debate up until the final seconds before the bell sounds.

As you might imagine, the unique and unorthodox Mexican-American mixed martial artist known as ‘El Cucuy’ – the ‘Bogeyman’ in Spanish – knows he has the physical wherewithal and the tools in the proverbial locker to hand the undefeated Dagestani his first busted night in the eight-sided fight arena. 

Ferguson, it is worth knowing, converses on this day just as he fights, with alacrity and clarity, transitioning between making points, giving opinions and creating analogies that form pictures, punctuated by metaphorical jabs and right hands, as he closes the distance with his theories.

Anthony Armand Ferguson has always been a fascinating character, a man who plays chess with life, both physically and mentally. Having interviewed hundreds of fighters for almost three decades, it is no exaggeration to admit that Ferguson fits easily into the top ten of those I have spoken with who think the most deeply about personal growth and development. That, in itself, can bring complications for the very taxing business of being a modern-day prizefighter. Headspace and physical space sometimes collide horribly. Bringing that under control takes a special person. And that is exactly what Ferguson epitomizes.

We cross the border into Dagestani territory early in the conversation. Ferguson underlines the fact that he has the stylistic chemistry to overcome Khabib. Anyone who knows his game, and this game, will see the silhouettes moving and knows that Ferguson can make the shapes to claim the crown. He knows it, too. 

“You heard Khabib say he has this fire burning inside him. That’s not fire. That’s fear,” suggests El Cucuy, with his own creative play on words and mind games. “I have the fire burning inside me, like a phoenix. I went through some shit. In the chess game of all this [he means the lightweight division], I’m winning. They keep losing their pieces. That’s such a mad thing. Why? Because I might not be as marketable as Conor? Look, I’ve got more Russian followers than probably Khabib. It’s fucked up.”

It certainly is extraordinary that Ferguson has not fought either the Dagestani or the Dubliner. Ferguson has grown accustomed to the waiting game, patient mind chess and indeed, when last on the cover of Fighters Only, the fighter of Mexican heritage was even then questioning the validity of McGregor’s champion status, declaring that he was being avoided and that they needed to settle scores as divisional leaders. Ferguson was the man in pole position right then. The interview between us was, in timely fashion, literally a few hours after McGregor had leaped into the Bellator cage at that event in Dublin, causing mayhem and running amok, battling with the referee and officials at the 3Arena.

Ferguson told Fighters Only that a meeting was inevitable. ‘Defend or Vacate’, ran the headline. He’s still waiting, by the way, and he still wants that fight with the irascible Irishman. But for now, Ferguson is pursuing the scalp of the man from the Caspian Sea. 

“It’s a superfight. We’ve had some experience and animosity. But I’m not trying to get into that. This guy is going to be ready. He’s over in Dagestan. We were supposed to do a face-off, but I’m not sure what happened with that,” explains Ferguson.

Indeed, as Ferguson told Ariel Helwani on his MMA Show in early December – one of just a couple of media appearances this year – he is “in Khabib’s head”. He loves that, relishes it, and Nurmagomedov has admitted he cannot fathom El Cucuy. 

“I’m pissed off I didn’t get to see this dude before the New Year,” adds Ferguson. “Literally, I’m not here to hold his hand. He’s going to have to get in that cage and answer to me. His daddy won’t be able to help him. He’s going to answer to me. I’m not trying to be gangster. He made my countryman do 20 push-ups for 20 bucks and then made fun of him? I don’t think so. That’s where I said I know him too and he owes me 20 push-ups.”

We move to McGregor. 

“For the sake of the argument, I would love to fight Conor because I’ve a very good game for southpaws and I knock them all out,” he adds, but you can tell McGregor is on the back burner in his head. “That’s my shit. My boxing versus Conor’s boxing, that’s two different things.”

But he is not going to lose sleep over it, either. 

“Me, I’m an athlete, and when I got done with one sport, it will be on to the next one. MMA is boring, I love MMA but it’s boring. I’m used to doing loads of things. I fight once a fucking year now. I used to fight five to six times. They’re trying to put me on the shelf, but my shelf is far greater than they know. I’m 35 years old but I’m outrunning these 20-year-olds. I’m only getting better. But I am seriously looking at other sports now. My management (team) know how serious I am about baseball. They’re putting me in touch with the right people.”

His words on Conor sound like he is irked, but he isn’t. Just resigned over what happened. Wise to the business. And that’s what makes Ferguson so dangerous now, at this stage in his career. 

“We all thought we were going to be fighting that knucklehead (McGregor). Old management kept that from happening,” he says, in reference either to the UFC, or his old management company, which he shared with the Irishman.

“Can’t talk shit on people, everyone’s got to make their mint, but it’s my time. Two years ago, as you say, we had the cover (of Fighters Only) and I had the belt. Two years ago! Here we are, back in Brooklyn. Things are a hop and a skip away. That’s what ‘keeping a championship-only mentality’ is. Keeping active. You can’t just play MMA. Some sports you just fucking do, you just play. But you can’t with MMA. This is a sport where it’s 24/7.”

Growing pains always ease, though, and Ferguson has done a hell of a lot of growing. “Yeah, I’ve grown and it’s taken a lot of patience,” he explains.

It seems remarkable that four times a scheduled fight has been canceled with Khabib – twice on each side through injuries – going back to December 2015, and unlike other rivalries that have been delayed, this postponement brings them together at the peak of their powers, at the height of their physical prowess. They have five opponents in common. Ferguson is on a twelve-fight winning streak going all the way back to distant 2013, while Nurmagomedov has never been beaten and has twelve victories in the UFC, equally, over the last seven years. Perfect timing for them to meet, in what is arguably the leading pound-for-pound fight in MMA at present. Name two other fighters at their peak, so skilled, who we must see fight?

It makes it one of those rare moments, a blue moon fight. Fate has kept them apart thus far, but it is now time for a meeting of vicious fists, kicks and elbows, with flurries from ground to stand-up. It will be at the margins where this contest is won. Khabib may have four years youth on his side, yet Ferguson does not exactly have miles on the clock. Look for holes in Ferguson. Fully fit, there aren’t any. The No. 1-ranked lightweight contender is seen as one of the best unorthodox fighters in the world, for good reason. He does things that no one else can. Those who know this sport see Ferguson as Khabib’s hardest test to date.

In early December, Ferguson said he would “keep poking the bear” and believes that “he’s going to make a mistake. I’m going to capitalize on that. I’m going to catch him during the scramble.” 

Other than the Helwani show appearance, on ESPN, Ferguson has kept a low profile. 

“I’ve taken the advice of my coach and stayed out of the media and concentrated on training,” he explains to me. “I’ve never really worried about what people were doing. I’ve translated that to the fight game. Even coming out of The Ultimate Fighter, I was going to fight whoever they put in front of me. Like Brock Lesnar [his coach on the show he went on to win], he’s going to be himself and be an asshole to everybody. I’m the same way. I’m not going to be an asshole but I’m going to be real with a lot of people. On The Ultimate Fighter, you learn some good things and it helps you go through this shit. It’s a fucking dog-eat-dog world out there and everyone’s looking for the same thing.” 

He means the fight world. And promotionally, it can be brutal. Ferguson has been on the sharp end of it, too, a powerful survivor because he is prepared to face anyone, and can beat anyone. 

But just look at his resume. He has earned the big billing and even bigger bucks after a stellar UFC run, which has included winning the Interim UFC Lightweight Championship, becoming The Ultimate Fighter 13 winner, five times claiming Fight of the Night honors (vs. Edson Barboza, Lando Vannata, Rafael dos Anjos, Anthony Pettis and Donald Cerrone), one Knockout of the Night (vs. Ramsey Nijem), one Submission of the Night (vs. Mike Rio), and thrice the Performance of the Night (vs. Edson Barboza, Josh Thomson and Gleison Tibau), along with owning the longest winning streak in UFC lightweight history, with a dozen triumphs back to back.

Ferguson has learned what goes around, comes around, as the old saying goes. He’s fresh, but is a vet; he has been there time and again. 

“There was a period where it was the Conor McGregor show, but he didn’t have any competition. Nobody was making a fool of him. It’s who you surround yourself with. I never wish anything bad on anyone, in the fight game, but you can’t do that shit. You take some bucks and losses. Eventually, you blink and it’s two years later and you’re fighting Khabib again.”

There is a great deal that Brock Lesnar talked about several years ago that Ferguson has taken to heart.

 “I’m not always training. Time management, you can’t overload yourself. Whatever you put on your plate has to be appetizing to eat. A lot of fighters take on too much shit. Brock always told me that on The Ultimate Fighter. When you’re all about winning, winning, winning, the stress load has got to be terrible. I can’t understand it and I don’t want to be like that. I’m not like that with my kid. When you lose, you’ve got to dust yourself off and give yourself a fucking day to think about it.”

But it is surely about timing, like most things in life? 

“Always, man. God works in mysterious ways and I’m a stronger fucking guy for all I’ve been through. I had to speak up. I didn’t have a manager or an agency that would support me in my decisions. It was very important for me. I’m one of the top five paid athletes in the UFC. I didn’t bullshit my way there. My roots are deep.” 

Like his warm-up. Ferguson’s warm-up is like no other. Stylized, choreographed, brilliance. Go online, google it if you haven’t seen it. His movement is special, spectacular. It’s his “funk”, he explains. 

“That’s years and years of movement. I’ve been doing this my whole life. My warm-ups are really formulated. I do it every fucking time. It’s my kata. Back in the day, a lot of these different types of martial artists had to disguise their martial arts. They couldn’t show their fighting style so they disguised it as dancing. Disguising it as dancing made it a more fluid movement. It added another feather or blade to martial arts. It’s a weapon, but it can be used as a flourish or magic trick. You imagine the flourish before you do the trick. It’s a deadly art. I have full control of my limbs. Everybody wants that secret sauce.” 

This year has been about ‘self-improvement’, adds Ferguson. “This is my equation. When I went through my healing, I really had to focus on what was wrong and it was my life. The equation is effort times consistency is confidence. It don’t matter what you do, if you keep doing it, it’ll bring you confidence. If it doesn’t work the first time, get it right the second time. I’ve grown and it’s taken a lot of patience.”

This year he has learned about “time management and business development”. What does he mean by that? “As far as time management, making sure I’m not spending all my time at work. Let’s bring it back to work. How about the UFC taking my belt off me? That’s created financial problems for me and my family. You have to understand. They’re going to make the money regardless. It doesn’t matter who you’re employed by. I’m the dude who started at the bottom in the mail room. It’s the CEO position you’re working for. I was out there for a lot of people. I was putting myself out there very well. Built relationships and started trusting people. What I did say, you guys won’t like me later on. I did say that. Because I wasn’t going to put myself out there anymore. I’m going everything I said I was going to do. Now this is the best part.

“If you lose, you dust yourself off. Nothing changes,” he adds nonchalantly. “It’s not about winning, it’s about growth. Belts can be taken away quickly. I earned that son of a bitch. And it got taken away like it was a fucking bandage. Ouch. Now here I am with the belt that means more than anybody’s. And everyone knows it. That’s beautiful. A lot of athletes don’t realize how selfish you have to be in this industry to make it. It sucks. If stinks, it really does. But practice 24/7, make it all about you. It’s all smart training and learning and investing. It’s growth man.”

Ferguson might have been burnt by a few people, scarred perhaps, at times. But that survival instinct is there, strong, powerful, tenacious. And as he matures, he takes life lessons from the great and the small. He grows avocados from the huge seeds in the center of the ones he picks from the tree in his yard (“they take fucking forever to grow”); he explains how he learned to “serve and connect people” working as a bartender; always growing, always learning, knowing that patience must be there in the background. Ferguson’s intensity as a fighter, in other words, does not stop at the gym door. He carries it with him in life, as a man, husband and father.

 There is the sense that Ferguson feels this really is his time, and nothing is going to deny him. Compelling and irresistible, El Cucuy is a force on the move right now, and in his element, emanating a powerful voice that simply will not be denied.