Tony Ferguson’s strange record has since resulted in debates across the community, with analysts dissecting what went wrong for the once-would-be-great champion. While there does seem to be an answer in sight, veteran UFC caller, Joe Rogan claims to have pinpointed the exact moment Ferguson’s downfall began.
A long-time combat sports aficionado, the Boston native has watched countless exchanges inside the Octagon and beyond.
And in his credible opinion, constant – or even traumatic beatings inside combat will lead to a gradual diminishing of a fighter. Case in point, Ferguson. Issuing a warning on his podcast, Rogan listed all the effects possible of traumatic brain injuries.
“Your body will give out,” Rogan said. “Age will win. The beating that your body takes from all the training. And all the competing, eventually you’re not gonna be able to perform at that level anymore.”, he continued.
“…Sometimes it happens very rapidly… over the course of just one or two fights. You go from being the best in the world, to a guy nobody thinks is gonna win the title again. Like that… You’re in a depressed reality. And then maybe you’re physically depressed because maybe you got really hurt in your last fight”, the UFC commentator explained.
And in the case of TUF winner, Ferguson, Rogan believes his infamous downfall can be credited to the massive punishment received against Justin Gaethje in their 2020 fight.
“Tony Ferguson is my favorite example,” he added. “He had bottomless cardio, never stopped coming after you. And was just hellbent on destruction. He beat the f*ck out of everybody… And, Justin Gaethje beat him so bad, that he was never the same again,” Rogan said.
Rogan claims Ferguson’s mental fortitude remains unstoppable to this day but his body simply doesn’t respond the same way.
Ferguson’s infamous UFC downfall and skid
Without a victory in nearly six years, Ferguson saw his time with the promotion end off the back of a promotional-worst eight-fight losing skid. And stopped five times within that eight-fight skid, Ferguson had enjoyed a stunning run in the UFC previously.
Embarking on a divisional-best 12-fight winning spree up to 2019, Ferguson ran roughshod through contenders. Even minting himself as interim champion in 2017 at UFC 216, Tony would be touted as the man to beat the 29-0 fighter, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Unfortunately, the fight would never come to pass and Ferguson would find himself on the pointy end of fate’s sword soon enough.
And worryingly, the Californian would even go on to claim that he was “too old” to retire from combat sports, despite major worry over his mental and physical wellbeing in recent years. In August 2024, after a loss to Michael Chiesa, he would leave a glove in the octagon, making fans sentimental over the belief that his time had come to an end.
But moments later, Tony would change his mind.
“I left half a f*cking glove in there. And I got it back, so that just tells me I got both pairs of gloves,” Ferguson told Demetrious Johnson on his YouTube channel, later that year in October.
“We’re going to probably take the rest of this season [off]. Go figure some things out. And we’re coming back hard either January or February, so stay tuned. F*ck no, I’m not retiring.”, he had added.
Meanwhile, his new employers, the GFL have also come under fire for booking his continued stint in combat against Dillon Danis, unfortunately to Ferguson’s apathy for the criticism.
