Tony Ferguson suffers broken orbital in UFC 249 loss to Justin Gaethje

Tony Ferguson just might be too tough for own good.

The former UFC interim lightweight champion put in a tremendous show of heart in taking out everything Justin Gaethje could dish out during his UFC 249 main event on Saturday night.

Ferguson (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) was still on his feet when referee Herb Dean waved off the bout at the 3:39 mark of the fifth round for a TKO which made Gaethje (22-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) interim 155-pound titleholder. Ferguson was cognizant enough that, even after having his 12-fight winning streak snapped, he was able to give his post-fight interview in the octagon, where he expressed frustration that he was not allowed to go the distance.

After the bout in Jacksonville, Fla., Ferguson was transported to a local hospital. There, it was discovered the game competitor suffered a broken orbital bone. MMA Junkie confirmed the news through a source with knowledge of the situation following an initial report by Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports.

Such an injury is likely to sideline Ferguson for a considerable period of time, which would put him out of the running to serve as a potential substitute should there be a fallout in the expected lightweight title unifier between Gaethje and Khabib Nurmagomedov.

UFC 249 took place Saturday at VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Fla. The main card aired on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN and ESPN+.