Tony Ferguson isn’t going anywhere just yet.
Ferguson is coming off a unanimous decision defeat to Charles Oliveira in the co-main event of UFC 256 this past weekend.
It put “El Cucuy” on a career-first two-fight losing streak and as he turns 37 next year, many wondered if it was possible that he could be among the 60 fighters cut by the UFC before the end of the year.
Former referee Big John McCarthy certainly seemed to think so.
“I think they’re going to cut him,” McCarthy said on his Weighing In podcast with Josh Thomson. “I could be wrong about that but the reason I say it is first off, Tony has always had an adversarial relationship with certain people with the UFC. He’s felt like he’s been held back, cheated in certain things. And so you have that. That’s okay, you can say those things when you’re winning.
“But now you take a look at his last two performances — the Justin Gaethje fight, he fought his ass off but he got beat badly. And now this one, he got beat badly. So you look at your lightweights and you go, ‘alright, is Tony Ferguson going to be fighting for the title?’ That ain’t going to happen. You would figure he would have to win somewhere between four or five fights in a row against top talent and that’s probably not going to happen.
“So, he’s not going to fight for the title. So you’re going to keep him for what reasons now? So he can beat your young talent that’s not smart and wise enough to fight with him at this time? That’s not going to do you any good as a promotion. So I don’t know, I just look and say he might be one of the guys in that 60.”
Thomson — who was notably defeated by Ferguson when they fought in 2015 — was in agreement with McCarthy as well.
It didn’t take long for those comments to come by Ferguson, who issued a response to the pair in an Instagram Live on Wednesday evening.
In a nutshell, he isn’t getting cut.
“Question for John McCarthy and the ‘Punk.’ No, I’m not fucking getting cut,” Ferguson said. “Josh — come on, dog. You got your ass kicked. Don’t start that shit, come on now.
“The fans love me, okay? They want to see me fight again. I love you guys too.”
Tony Ferguson responds to John McCarthy and Josh Thompson’s rumors that he’s getting cut 😂 pic.twitter.com/QNOn5aVljc
— Sasuke ➐🎄 (@UFC_Sasuke) December 17, 2020
It would certainly be an extreme move if Ferguson was cut as he lost to two of the best fighters in the world in Justin Gaethje and Oliveira, having recently been on a 12-fight winning streak just earlier this year. Not to mention, the former interim champion is also one of the most popular fighters on the roster.
For now, it looks like Ferguson will be competing in the UFC again.