Tony Ferguson should retire, but he’s not ready, and we don’t know if Dana White and the UFC will allow him to continue his career with the promotion. If Ferguson is allowed to return–and to be clear, I don’t think that’s a good idea–the perfect opponent for him, just unretired.
Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone, 41, announced his intentions to return to the UFC for two more fights on his Instagram account. He has competed in the Octagon 48 times but says he wants to get to 50 career fights before walking away for good.
Cerrone says he has been on Testosterone Replacement Therapy and “a bunch of peptides,” all of which are banned substances. Cerrone knows and says he needs time to get clean and then launch his return.
Perhaps that’s where Ferguson comes in.
Ferguson has lost a UFC-record eight consecutive fights. The last time he won a fight was on June 8, 2019 in Chicago. I was in press row, and it was one-sided.
Ferguson did this to Cerrone’s eye, but the latter could not continue.
Were it not for an eye poke that led to a majority no decision against Niko Price in 2020, Cerrone would have seven consecutive losses.
Cerrone had lost four fights in a row before the fight with Price. After the no-decision, Cerrone lost his last two fights. Cerrone retired after Jim Miller submitted him in July 2022. After Cerrone has sat on the sidelines for nearly three years, he’s ready to fight again.
Ferguson and Cerrone are both far away from their primes, and because they’ve fought before, there is history between them. If the UFC is attempting to protect both fighters from being matched with a young and hungry opponent they can’t keep up with, having their rematch is one of the more acceptable options.
White was asked by a reporter on Tuesday at the Contender Series how he felt about Cerrone’s potential comeback. “I hate it,” White said. “Love him, hate that.”
White didn’t say no to the concept, but it may be challenging for Ferguson-Cerrone II to be made.
Other UFC News – Dana White Contender Series Results
On the final episode of Season 8 of Dana White Contender Series, four of the five winners earned contracts. Nick Klein scored an amazing 37-second submission in the first round win over Heraldo Souza to score arguably the most impressive winner of the night.
Here are the results from all five fights.
The only winner who didn’t get a contract was Julieta Martinez. The 20-year-old from Argentina won a hard-fought split decision over Leslie Hernandez, but White said he believed she was too young and undersized.
White says Martinez is invited to come to train at the Performance Institute, but her time will have to come at a later time.
The contract winners’ names are in bold.
- Nick Klein defeats Heraldo Souza via submission at 0:37 of Round 1 (Rear-Naked Choke)
- Luis Gurule defats Nick Piccininni via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Yadier Del Valle defeats Antonio Monteiro via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-26)
- Julieta Martinez defeats Leslie Hernandez via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
- Jonathan Micallef defeats Mohamed Ado via submission at 3:01 of Round 1 (Triangle Choke)
