Femte rankade Tony Ferguson möter nionde rankade Beneil Dariush under UFC 262 som äger rum i Houston den 16:e maj. Där ska den före detta interimästaren i lättvikt försöka att bryta en förlustsvit på två fighter.
Ferguson tar på mig förlusterna
Ferguson är på okänd mark. Lättviktaren har för första gången i karriären två raka förluster. Detta Justin Gaethje (TKO i den femte ronden) och mot Charles Oliveira (enhälligt domslut).
I en intervju med submission radio så berättar Tony att skulden för förlusterna endast är hans egen. Och att allt med jakt efter och inställda fighter med Khabib Nurmagomedov blev för mycket.
“Last year, it had nothing to do with coaches or anything else, Seriously, I take all the fall and all my blame on it, but the two losses that I had, I’m gonna be real with you guys: It was the best learning experience I probably could’ve ever had and the best thing that was for me and my family.”
He continued, “Chasing after a guy like (retired former champion) Khabib and then trying to get the fight and then not getting the fight and then having interim belts dangled in front of you, the game is what it is. You can’t get mad at the game. But how you play the game is exactly your approach. And that’s what I did for this year. I completely changed my approach.”
Genomgår förvandling
Ferguson berättar vidare att han nu genomgått en förvandling och att numera har byggt upp en mentalitet som en olympier.
“Where we’re at right now, I’m hungry as f*ck, And I haven’t had the love for the game in a minute. I’m gonna be real: I haven’t even sparred yet, but I’m getting that f*cking hunger just being around it over at Wild Card.”
He continued, “Instead of a varsity mentality, I went back to an Olympic mentality, and I started to surround myself around people that are hungry how I am and how they’ve been for a long time. And I started to find myself over at Wild Card a lot easier, because that’s where I knew that I could find that kind of grind.”
Hyllar motståndaren
Angående motståndaren Dariush så har inte Ferguson annat än respekt för honom. Men Tony betonar att han är mer hungrig än någonsin.
“It’s a great fight, Let’s talk about Beneil: The guy’s an up-and-comer. Not up-and-comer, an OG dude. He’s been doing the game for a long time. He’s over at Huntington beach with Rafael Cordeiro. He’s a southpaw, he’s very strong on his left side. He’s very game in mixing it up. So, that’s why I’ve been mixing my shit up. Because I got too one-dimensional. When you get too one dimensional, you start to plateau.
“And as a master trainer, you should be able to realize that and then understand that, make some changes, and then be able to get your athlete back on the same program, which was, not peaking, but steadily increasing. Paying attention to the smaller details are always going to make for the best things. And Beneil and their team, they got a sh*t load of people over there helping them out. They got like an ‘Ultimate Fighter’ team. It feels like I’m back on the ‘Ultimate Fighter,’ guys. It really does.
“I’m hungry as f*ck, and I’m back. I’m really back on it, man. And I’m mixing it up really, really well, better than a f**king blender.”
