I appreciate the nuance brought but this really just makes it even clearer to me how unbelievably unlucky Tony has been. I think it's fair to say he's been the most unlucky fighter in history. The anti-ufc talk is wrong in this instance as you pointed out but the community is rightly anti-ufc for a variety of other valid reasons. This just fits that narrative. The point here isn't that the ufc screwed him. The point is that he has been unbelievably unlucky. He deserves more acclaim. He deserved to be champion. He did deserve the shot over Eddie. He did beat RDA. Then he won another 3 fights after that. The fact that he wasn't the champion was just pure unluck. That should be the emphasis of this story in my opinion.
Thank you for checking it out and your thoughtful comments; both are greatly appreciated.
I agree that this is a story of bad luck and unfortunate timing, not malicious actions. There were championship opportunities there, and something always got in the way.
I think those that really pay attention to the sport and care about records, results are fully aware of how great Ferguson was during this run and recognize him accordingly. The thing with that Summer '16 title fight was that it was announced in April, soon after Ferguson was supposed to fight Khabib, but was forced to withdraw — the timing didn't line up for it to work because the UFC was announcing things well in advance, especially when it came to lining up International Fight Week events, and that year, they ran three shows in three days, culminating in UFC 200.
I wish he'd gotten his chance. He might be the best to never fight for the belt. Thanks again.
I appreciate the nuance brought but this really just makes it even clearer to me how unbelievably unlucky Tony has been. I think it's fair to say he's been the most unlucky fighter in history. The anti-ufc talk is wrong in this instance as you pointed out but the community is rightly anti-ufc for a variety of other valid reasons. This just fits that narrative. The point here isn't that the ufc screwed him. The point is that he has been unbelievably unlucky. He deserves more acclaim. He deserved to be champion. He did deserve the shot over Eddie. He did beat RDA. Then he won another 3 fights after that. The fact that he wasn't the champion was just pure unluck. That should be the emphasis of this story in my opinion.
Thank you for checking it out and your thoughtful comments; both are greatly appreciated.
I agree that this is a story of bad luck and unfortunate timing, not malicious actions. There were championship opportunities there, and something always got in the way.
I think those that really pay attention to the sport and care about records, results are fully aware of how great Ferguson was during this run and recognize him accordingly. The thing with that Summer '16 title fight was that it was announced in April, soon after Ferguson was supposed to fight Khabib, but was forced to withdraw — the timing didn't line up for it to work because the UFC was announcing things well in advance, especially when it came to lining up International Fight Week events, and that year, they ran three shows in three days, culminating in UFC 200.
I wish he'd gotten his chance. He might be the best to never fight for the belt. Thanks again.
I only found this substack the other day and it's everything I could have wanted. Really appreciate your hard work
That means the world to me, Jack. Thank you, sincerely, truly. Have a wonderful weekend and enjoy the fights.