Tony Ferguson welcomes Ricky Turcios to the TUF winner's circle
![Ricky Turcios (left) & Tony Ferguson (right) [Image Credits- @rickyturcios on Instagram]](https://staticg.sportskeeda.com/editor/2021/08/a82b0-16302302452481-800.jpg?w=500)
UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson recently welcomed newcomer Ricky Turcios into the hallowed list of TUF winners following his stupefying win at UFC Fight Night: Barboza vs. Chikadze. 'El Cucuy' took to Twitter shortly after Turcios' win in a bid to congratulate him for his performance and usher him into the highly stacked roster of fighters.
"Exciting Fight @ufc Good Job @RickyHadouken Way -2- Fight Welcome To The Club # TUF Guys -CSO- #UFCVegas35," wrote Tony Ferguson.
The event saw Turcios butting heads with his TUF Team Volkanovski training partner Brady Hiestand. The fighters took their scrap all the way, with Turcios eking out a split decision win. Two judges scored the fight 29-28 for Turcios, and the third judge felt Hiestand had done enough, scoring the fight 29-28 in his favor.
The fight was a rollercoaster ride, with both fighters digging deep for the win. Yet it was Turcios who walked out of the octagon as the victor after impressing the judges. With what Tony Ferguson has to say, it seems like the judges are not the only ones he impressed.
What's next for Tony Ferguson?
Tony Ferguson has always been associated with the cream of the UFC's lightweight division. However, he has certainly seen better days. Having racked up a series of losses on the trot, 'El Cucuy' is seemingly in a slump.
After his quest for the title was derailed by Justin Gaethje during their interim title fight back in 2020, Tony Ferguson went on to fight the likes of Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush only to pick up more losses.
A legion of MMA fans and pundits have been calling for his retirement. In fact, the former UFC lightweight kingpin Khabib Nurmagomedov has echoed the same sentiment. However, Tony Ferguson was never one to quit so easily.
Following his UFC 262 setback at the hands of Beneil Dariush, Tony Ferguson took to social media in a bid to open up about his intentions of trudging on in the face of adversity. While there may be a shroud of uncertainty over his future at the moment, we would advise against counting Tony Ferguson out of active contention just yet.