Tony Ferguson has opened up about his battles outside the cage, revealing that he struggled to even get out of bed after suffering a major injury midway through his UFC losing streak.
The legendary former interim lightweight champion entered the coronavirus pandemic with a grudge fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov booked for a fifth time. He was considered one of the best of his era, and arguably viewed as the unbeaten Russian’s kryptonite.
But after that fight fell apart, he ended up facing Justin Gaethje instead. He took a beating in that fight and was stopped, which started an eight-fight skid. That stretch eventually got him cut from the UFC before he tried to rebuild in Misfits Boxing.
Tony Ferguson recalls horror injury during UFC losing streak
In the build-up to the Gaethje fight, Ferguson put his body through a lot, famously cutting weight twice – once for the original date cancelled by COVID-19, and again for the rescheduled bout.
The physical impact of this was significant, resulting in a year-long period where he struggled with proper movement.
In an exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, Ferguson stated: “For the longest time it would hurt to get out of bed and put my feet on the floor. You’re talking about for around a year-and-a-half my legs were broken.
“This was during the pandemic, around [the Gaethje fight]. I just did not prepare the same. When I prepared for Khabib we were not conditioning our shins and s—. I was preparing for sambo, I was going to throw this dude right on his f—ing back and embarrass him in his own sport.
“So they switch opponents up and my body took a f—ing healing. I wanted to go out there and demonstrate to people how f—ing tough we were as f—ing human beings. There was a lot that went on and a lot of mental weight that I thought I could handle.
“I put it on myself and it dragged me the f— down. That was my own fault and I did that, it took a lot for me to beat the s— out of myself to be able to snap out of it like how I did.”
Tony Ferguson shares how David Goggins helped him through injury struggles
During some of his lowest points, Ferguson leaned on support from David Goggins, the well-known motivational speaker and former Navy SEAL. Goggins even cornered him for a fight against Paddy Pimblett, and Ferguson completed the intense ‘Hell Week’ program he runs.
“I had meetings with Goggins and a lot of people. He told me that we needed to get to that mental spot that I needed to be at. Growing up I wanted to be Special Forces, there was just no way for me to be able to do it,” El Cucuy revealed.
“When I moved back to California I signed up for the Paratroopers and I accidentally signed up for the seven-day free jiu-jitsu class. It’s crazy how it works, man. It’s about not being self-destructive, go and make it more hard for yourself.
“Why? It’s not for the challenge necessarily but it’s because we as human beings we do it to ourselves because we might feel like that. And I hope that any person that sees me get my hand raised, not only am I feeling that.
“I want every other person in the world going through whatever the f— they’re going through can realize there’s light at the end of that tunnel and it’s always possible when you try.”
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