Ben Askren thinks losing to Paddy Pimblett should signal the end for Tony Ferguson.
Ferguson (25-10 MMA, 15-8 UFC) suffered yet another loss when he was dominated by Pimblett at UFC 296 less than two weeks ago. “El Cucuy” dropped his seventh straight fight, tying B.J. Penn for most consecutive losses in UFC history.
Askren doesn’t rate Pimblett (21-3 MMA, 5-0 UFC) very highly. So, if Ferguson is losing to the rising star in decisive fashion, Askren thinks it’s time he hangs up his gloves.
“He says he wants to keep fighting,” Askren told Middle Easy. “Is it a monetary thing where he needs to keep fighting for money? I don’t know, but Paddy does not seem to be that good. He really doesn’t. And Tony, he just couldn’t get off his back. I don’t know what his plan was. He is a wrestler. He grew up wrestling.
“He knows how to get up. That’s folkstyle wrestling, but he chose to just be on his back for the entirety of the second and third round, right? It’s like, dude, get up. Maybe even take him down. Paddy is not an elite wrestler. You should be able to go get a takedown on this dude. Make it happen.”
Ferguson insists he’s not done yet. The 39-year-old took to social media to urge his fans to keep the faith, despite many – including UFC CEO Dana White encouraging him to retire.
“His trajectory is so insane,” Askren added. “He was like, 13-0, or whatever the hell he was for a while, and now he’s 0-7. It’s like, yeah, you need to be done, buddy.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.
