On the back of his spectacular pro boxing debut, former UFC megastar Tony Ferguson has seen his first victory since 2019 called into major question.
Making his first outing outside the Octagon bubble since his exit from the promotion earlier this year, Tony Ferguson co-headlined Misfits Boxing 22 in a trip to Manchester.
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And prevailing in a combat sports setting for the first time since his win over Donald Cerrone six years prior, Ferguson snapped an eight-fight losing streak in the fight game.
However, his third-round rallying knockout win has now been called into question amid some quite serious accusations.
Salt Papi claimed Tony Ferguson benefited from ‘robbery’ at Misfits 22
And the opponent he managed to defeat with a third-round barrage, Salt Papi, has now called his own loss to the former interim UFC lightweight champion into question.
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Winning the opening and second round on the judges’ scorecards, Papi was stung at the ropes by Oxnard veteran Ferguson, who poured on some pressure and follow-up shots — scoring a rather quickfire TKO win to snap his eight-fight skid.
Addressing his loss to Ultimate Fighter winner Ferguson, Papi claimed the referee actually “robbed” him of a victory, and was “biased” in favor of the former Octagon megastar.
“It wasn’t like I got knocked out, it was the ref. The ref was a bit biased,” Papi told The Fighting Conversation. “I had to put my hands up and then the referee just stepped [in].
“And there were only like 20 seconds left on the counter as well. I felt like the fans got robbed of a proper fight.
” I was two rounds up already. Tony Ferguson needs to work more if he wants to win.”
Tony Ferguson reveals battle with nerves before boxing bow
Ever as confident ahead of his return to action, Ferguson made quite the candid admission about his pre-fight feelings ahead of sharing the ring with Nathaniel Bustamante.
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As far as Ferguson is concerned, however, he can now enter “killer mode” with his win over Papi intact, but he was more than nervous approaching the ring in the AO Arena.
“Being real, being an underdog, coming through here, being super nervous at the beginning of camp, and then just trusting the process with my coaches and my cornermen,” Ferguson told assembled media backstage.
“We came out of here, we did what we wanted to do. And it was a good reminder of who I am, and I’m a fighter,” Ferguson explained.