UFC icon Matt Brown recently shared his opinion on why the former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson seems unable to retire.
40-year-old Brown recently suffered defeat at the hands of fellow veteran Michael Chiesa. The bout took place at UFC Abu Dhabi and is considered the longest run of defeats in the promotion’s history, with Ferguson suffering his eighth consecutive loss. ‘El Cucuy” suffered a shameful defeat after submitting to a rear naked choke in round one. Although many believed the fighter would announce his retirement after this fight, Ferguson went backstage to announce he would ‘get better and better and better”. Despite declaring that his professional career may end, Ferguson is intent on keeping his options open and doesn’t seem to want to retire.
Although many were shocked by this news, Former UFC fighter Matt Brown understands Ferguson’s struggles and sympathises with him. In a recent episode of The Fighter vs The Writer, Brown spoke about the challenges fighters face following retirement and how tough it can be to leave the cage.
“Look, when you lose eight in a row, it doesn’t matter where you’re at in your career — that’s pretty much OK. You should probably call it quits,” Brown said on the latest episode of The Fighter vs. The Writer. “Something isn’t right. Whatever it is. If you lost your first eight or you lost your last eight.
“The problem is he had so many wins, he was interim champion, on like a 12-fight winning streak back in the day. So he’s like a cocaine addict trying to reach that high again. When you get eight [losses], it doesn’t matter. If he had lost eight fights in a row at the beginning of his career, his first eight fights, he would have quit, most likely. He would have been like, ‘Well, this definitely isn’t the sport for me. I lost eight fights in a row.’ But because he’s already had that high, he’s thinking I can get back to that.”
Brown likened the feeling to being high on drugs, and that feeling can be pretty intoxicating and hard to quit.
It’s like cocaine. It really is,” Brown said. “That’s what walking into an octagon and beating another man’s ass [feels like]. Especially the way Tony did where he just f*cking ripped people’s souls out of their bodies. That is a high you cannot get anywhere else in any other way.
“But you can’t chase that. You’ve got to accept that was the season of your life, and it’s time to move onto a new season.”
‘The Immortal’ spoke about his strikes with retirement after investing 16 years into his professional career. He says making the decision to hang up his gloves wasn’t easy for him, and it won’t be easy for anyone else. Brown said the thrill of fighting cannot be equated to anything else.
“The reason I was able to retire was because I was just a more well-rounded person than that,” Brown explained. “I have other things that fulfil me and give me reward in life more than just fighting. My identity isn’t attached to just solely being a fighter. You kind of have to remove yourself from the world and kind of be alone with yourself a little bit to realize that. Atleast I did because everywhere you go, that’s what everybody places your identity as.
“Everywhere I go—for instance, I was just at the state fair last weekend—. I get stopped five or six times by people asking for autographs and pictures and pumping me up, asking when I’m going to come back. That fills a huge void in your soul when you can say, ‘Yeah, I’m coming back.’ But when you have to tell them no, I’m not coming back. I’m done—you feel like you just let that person down…
“I think the moral of the story is Tony needs to call it quits and find something else to do,” Brown said. “Maybe he should open a gym. I’d be happy to help him.”
Tony Fergurson was once a feared UFC fighter and enjoyed a 12-fight win streak before his loss to Justin Gaethje, and since then, he has suffered a downturn of defeat. Fans and even former UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov are hopeful his career will pick up soon.
“It’s not a surprise for me because he’s 40 years old,” Khabib said during a backstage at UFC Abu Dhabi. “I just want to wish him all the best. He’s truly one of the best who ever was doing it in the UFC. I just want to wish him all the best. His life is just beginning because he’s just 40 years old, and he just finished his MMA career. Now, it’s going to be a different life, a much better life.”
