"It's not him making that call" - Josh Thomson explains why Tony Ferguson's shift to welterweight ahead of UFC 279 will ultimately benefit him
An exciting and intriguing bout was recently added to UFC 279 with Tony Ferguson taking on Li Jingliang at welterweight. Tony Ferguson has fought most of his career at lightweight with his last appearance at welterweight being during The Ultimate Fighter 13 finale back in 2011. On an episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast former UFC fighter Josh Thomson who's faced Ferguson in the octagon, talked about how this move will benefit 'El Cucuy'. Thomson cited Ferguson's new training camp and weight cutting as two major reasons, stating
"The reason I'm going to agree with what he's (Tony Ferguson) going to do (move up to welterweight) is that it's not him making that call. It's Greg Jackson, it's that camp. That camp's saying, what are you doing? Why are you killing yourself? ... It's obvious in his face he's cutting a lot of weight and as he gets older, he's having a hard time keeping the weight down. He's a f**** animal, he just trains and trains and trains. It seems like he's depleting himself too much."
Ferguson will be another fighter hoping a change in weight class can lead to a career resurgence. Between joining a formal training camp and changing weight classes, Ferguson has made some dramatic changes inbetween fights. Whether it will help snap his four-fight losing streak will be determined September 10th at UFC 279.
You can watch the full episode of the WEIGHING IN podcast below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes Tony Ferguson only fighting 'for the money' now
Khabib Nurmagomedov was recently asked for his thoughts on the state of fighters such as Tony Ferguson and Nate Diaz. 'The Eagle' spoke of how they fall into the same category of a lot of fighters from his prime. Nurmagomedov claimed that like him, they are past his prime and are most likely only still in the fight game for financial reasons. He said:
"When I was in my prime, let's say from 2015 to 2020. Not a single guy from those years is is now on the same peak that they were back then. Look my time has passed too... The same thing happened to them, but they still continue to fight. And I think they are doing it for the money. Neither Ferguson nor Diaz are pursuing championship ambitions. And you as experts understand that they will never be champions again. Same goes with Conor, and same goes with Poirier... their time has passed."
Nurmagomedov is one of the few fighters to retire at his peak, so it's no surprise he's wary of how most fighters stay in the game too long.