Tony Ferguson injury report: Did he break his arm at UFC 256?
Tony Ferguson suffered a heavy defeat against Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 256. Ferguson got thoroughly dominated throughout the fight and Oliveira almost ripped his left arm off during the scrap.
Towards the end of the first round of the fight, Charles Oliveira took Ferguson down and locked in a vicious armbar that saw Tony's arm bent backward unnaturally.
It was a painful and hard-to-watch moment.
However, 'El Cucuy' is a true warrior. As Oliveira hyper-extended Ferguson's arm during the final seconds of the first round, Ferguson was seen writhing in pain but he would not tap. Tony Ferguson was then saved by the bell.
Tony Ferguson might have continued the rest of the fight with a broken arm. But that's just the 'type of guy' he is.
As of now, there is no update on whether Tony Ferguson's arm was broken by Charles Oliveira's armbar.
Has Tony Ferguson's prime passed him by?
Tony Ferguson has now dropped two fights in a row and got absolutely wrecked in both of them. He succumbed to a violent TKO loss against Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 and then got completely dominated and punished by Oliveira at UFC 256.
This leaves many wondering whether Ferguson has finally reached the fag end of his glorious career.
UFC president Dana White praised Tony Ferguson for the bravery he showed by not tapping despite being in excruciating pain. But he also admitted that he thought he would see the 'old Tony' during the fight and that didn't happen.
'I thought we were going to see the old Tony,' White told reporters post-fight at UFC 256. I thought that the last fight he was affected by weight cutting and we were going to see. Ten out of 10 people tap to that armbar. The fact he even made it through the armbar is unbelievable and just a testament to how tough and durable and crazy Tony Ferguson is.'
In a heavily stacked 155lbs division, the loss against Oliveira makes it very difficult for Tony Ferguson to be able to mount a title challenge anytime soon. White stated that Ferguson needs to spend some time with his family and think about what he wants to do next year.
'Tony needs to go home and spend the holidays with his family and take some time off and think about what he wants to do next year and we'll see what's next for him.'