Tony Ferguson has no intention of retiring after UFC Abu Dhabi.
The 35 fight veteran faces Michael Chiesa on the main card section of Saturday night’s fight card in search of his first victory since 2019.
‘El Cucuy’ finds himself on a seven fight losing streak but when speaking to the media, the 40 year old has no signs of calling it a day. He said:
“I'm being real with it. At 170lbs, I'm not killing myself to get to 155, I do feel fresher. 155lbs is closer to my high school wrestling weight 152lbs. So you guys do the math. I'm 40 f**king years old. I've been competing in this sport for a very long time, all around and sports for over 35 years, kind of crazy.
"Wrestled in college at 165. 170 is what I won The Ultimate Fighter at. Michael Chiesa wanted it at 155. You know, we do the math, we do the numbers, you're not supposed to go backwards, I've been fighting backwards my whole entire time, trying to just stay there for God knows f**king what reason. 170lbs, I feel comfortable.
"I don't feel like this going to be my last fight. I have to do some extraordinary shit is what I'm planning to do. So that's why I feel sharp. I did two practices already this morning. I didn’t even realize until I was walking up here. I did pads session at like 12:30. I am watching Chiesa as he's walking through the hallway, I'm walking through and here he is with his guys and he looks like he's all skinned out, kind of all skinny, hating life because he probably was cutting weight.
"If you lift a bunch of heavy weights, you're going to f**king have all that weight to lose and I realize that going to 155lbs. I always want to be the big dude going to 155, I'm already a big guy, dude, but I'm long and lanky and I'm strong, so 170lbs fits me, right? Doesn't matter if people say that I should go lower or heavier or whatever the f**k it is, I feel comfortable this way."
The Welterweight bout is one of a number of intriguing match ups on the card, with Marlon Vera facing Deiveson Figueiredo, Shara Magomedov taking on Michal Oleksiejczuk and Cory Sandhagen battling it out with Umar Nurmagomedov for the number 1 contender spot at 135lbs.
