There is one UFC lightweight title contender who doesn’t have the same confidence that Tony Ferguson will return as the same fighter he once was.
Ferguson is on the road from recovery. If you recall, Ferguson was slated to take on Khabib Nurmagomedov at the UFC 223 pay-per-view event at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
This was when it was revealed that Ferguson suffered an injury and had to pull out of the fight.
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway stepped up on six days notice to accept this fight and save this pay-per-view by competing against Nurmagomedov. However, Holloway was pulled, and Al Iquantia stepped in.
The reason that Ferguson was unable to make this fight happen and was forced out of the main event is due to the fact that he tore his LCL. As a result, he had to undergo the knife to correct the injury.
Kevin Lee recently spoke with Joe Rogan on the latest edition of his MMA Show and during the podcast, Lee stated that he doesn’t think Ferguson will ever be the same after suffering the injury.
“I feel bad for the guy, I really do. I don’t think he’ll ever be the same coming off that one,” Lee told Joe Rogan during a recent appearance on the JRE MMA Show podcast (transcript courtesy of Bloody Elbow).
“That’s huge, especially at 34 (years old), to try and come back off that. And it kind of sucks for me, too, because I think I fought the best Tony Ferguson that you’re gonna see, period, really.”
“He’ll come back and he’ll still beat great guys. He’s still gonna do very good. But I don’t think he’ll be the same,” Lee said.
“I think the body can come back, it’s just I don’t know if his mind will let him be as free (because) that was one of Tony’s biggest assets,” he added. “He just does whatever the f—k he wants, and now, when he gets back in there, is he gonna be thinking about his knee? Even if that’s at the back of your mind, it’s limited to that type of style that he likes to fight.”
What are your thoughts on Lee’s comments? Sound off in the comment section below.
https://youtu.be/5MI6Vzrpfq8
