"You start questioning everything" - Brendan Schaub weighs in on Tony Ferguson's decision to change camps heading into UFC 279
Brendan Schaub has put forth his take regarding Tony Ferguson changing camps ahead of his upcoming fight at UFC 279 on September 10. ‘El Cucuy’ is coming off a vicious KO loss against Michael Chandler, whom he faced in May. Also, Ferguson is currently on a four-fight losing streak.
Tony Ferguson generally works alongside a few trusted coaches from different gyms, not limiting himself to a single gym. Prior to the Chandler matchup, Ferguson worked with legendary boxing coach Freddie Roach, besides honing his overall MMA skills with other coaches.
Leading up to his much-awaited return to welterweight against Li Jingliang at UFC 279, Ferguson shifted camps and trained at the world-renowned Jackson Wink MMA gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
On The Schaub Show, former UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub addressed Tony Ferguson's changing fight camps. He suggested that switching camps may not be enough to help 'El Cucuy' reclaim his former glory. 'Big Brown' indicated that given Ferguson's recent struggles, he should've been matched up against a lower-tier opponent and not someone as dangerous as Jingliang. Schaub stated:
“He’s with a new camp. He’s with Jackson’s camp. I know it from experience. I lost two fights in a row. You start questioning your camp. You start questioning everything, and you think it’s a camp problem, and you leave.”
Schaub continued:
“You think when you go to a new one, those problems are going to be left in wherever Tony was competing at, running his camp before. Those problems follow you wherever you go. It’s not a camp problem. It’s a "you" problem.”
Nevertheless, Schaub highlighted that changing camps does, at times, help a fighter get a fresh start. He opined that fighters on losing streaks sometimes attribute their setbacks to the lack of guidance/help from their coaches. Schaub believes that in such situations, changing camps could perhaps benefit the fighter.
Watch Schaub discuss the topic at 31:41 in the video below:
Jackson Wink coach lauds Tony Ferguson, hopes ‘El Cucuy’ makes full-time move to the gym
In a recent interview with James Lynch, Jackson Wink coach Brandon Gibson was full of praise for former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson. He said that he’d love Ferguson to shift to Jackson Wink full-time.
‘Six Gun’ emphasized that they had a blast working together. Furthermore, he praised Tony Ferguson for being humble, hardworking, dedicated, and very open to ideas. Gibson said:
“It was cool because he's such a veteran, such a great champ, and for him to not only be a very open student but to also share so much knowledge with the rest of the team was really cool to see.”
Watch Gibson’s assessment below: