Tony Ferguson’s boxing coach, Rashad Holloway, has opened up about his fighter’s recent loss to Justin Gaethje.
Ferguson (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) was dominated before suffering a fifth-round stoppage loss to Gaethje in last Saturday’s interim lightweight title fight at UFC 249, where he showed plenty of heart but suffered lots of damage.
Speaking to MMA reporter Helen Yee, Holloway broke down what he thought went wrong, while giving Gaethje plenty of praise in the process.
“Tony was not as sharp sometimes as we usually see, but Tony was active. He was busy. Justin Gaethje just fought a hell of a fight,” Holloway said. “He fought a hell of a fight. He was able to capitalize on some of the mistakes Tony made. Tony fought Tony’s fight in some significance, but at the same time there were a lot of things he didn’t do, and I think that was due to Justin Gaethje putting on a good performance, and it just is what it is some nights.”
Holloway was happy with some of the things Ferguson did but ultimately would have liked to see more diversity in his offense.
“Our whole game plan was to stay on the outside, strike, stay long, move to our right at all times,” Holloway said. “Tony did that at times. He didn’t do it as much as I wanted him at times, but Tony’s Tony. Tony likes to engage, Tony likes to bang, and that’s what makes Tony Tony at the same time. He did a lot of that. I think I would have liked to see Tony use his feet a little bit more. Tony did some good things in the beginning of the fight, like when he stayed long. He did very well in keeping Justin off balance, a lot of good leg kicks.
“Of course, we all wanna see Tony on the ground more with Gaethje – more submissions, more jiu-jitsu – but at the same time, Gaethje makes it hard. You look at all of Gaethje’s fights, Gaethje doesn’t let anyone take him to the ground. He does a good job of that.”
The loss to Gaethje snapped Ferguson’s 12-fight winning streak and was his first blemish in over eight years. He suffered a broken orbital but has already been discharged from the hospital.
Tony Ferguson's boxing coach breaks down why Justin Gaethje fight went wrong
