‘I just don’t think he’s an elite lightweight…I don’t think he ever was’ – Justin Gaethje makes a surprising statement about Tony Ferguson


‘I just don’t think he’s an elite lightweight…I don’t think he ever was’ – Justin Gaethje makes a surprising statement about Tony Ferguson
Justin Gaethje

Justin Gaethje has made a surprising statement that, ‘El Cucuy’ Tony Ferguson has never been an elite lightweight. Justin Gaethje, the number 2 ranked lightweight famously ended Tony Ferguson’s 12 match win streak at UFC 249. Gaethje won by TKO, as a bloodied Tony Ferguson got groggy by the cage side, following a flurry of punches from Justin, in the fifth round.

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Gaethje who hasn’t fought since losing to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254, spoke about Tony Ferguson, in an interview with Brett Okamoto of ESPN, saying that Tony was never an elite lightweight and now that he has lost to Charles Oliveira, his confidence is completely off.

I just think his skills were really effective in the way people were fighting him

Gaethje was quoted as saying, “I mean, Tony has always been that man. Guys constantly went in there and fought in the chaos and refused to create space. I don’t know why, [Anthony] Pettis and [Donald] Cerrone, these guys weren’t able to do what I did. But I think that was there the whole time.

He continued, “Fans not being there really helped, stayed focus, keep everything internal. That’s a huge factor when you’re fighting Tony because just his face alone makes you wanna fight. I don’t think he’s done by any means, I just don’t think he’s an elite lightweight. I don’t think he ever was. I just think his skills were really effective in the way people were fighting him.”

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Charles Olveira (Yellow Shorts) and Tony Ferguson (on the ground)

Speaking about Tony’s fight against Oliveira and its effect on Tony’s confidence, Gaethje said, “I was impressed with Oliveira but yeah, I don’t want to take anything away from him but Tony was not the same person. No one’s going to be the same person after you get hit in the face that many times. Ever. You fight with less confidence and his confidence is something that made him so dangerous and his lack of confidence now is going to be a factor.”

Do you agree with Gaethje’s comments?

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