Tony Ferguson to avoid orbital bone surgery after UFC 249

Tony Ferguson won’t require surgery on his broken orbital bone.

Ferguson (25-4 MMA, 15-2 UFC) suffered the injury in his interim lightweight title fight loss to Justin Gaethje (22-2 MMA, 5-2 UFC) last weekend at UFC 249. He lost by fifth-round TKO and absorbed a lot of damage along the way.

Immediate post-fight reports indicated a broken orbital bone for “El Cucuy,” which would force him to have surgery, but after further examination that will not be the case, Ferguson’s team told MMA Junkie on Friday.

As a result, Ferguson’s timeline to return to the octagon could be expedited, although it remains to be seen what’s next and when.

Ferguson had his lightweight division record 12-fight winning streak snapped against Gaethje. He was originally supposed to fight Khabib Nurmagomedov on April 18, but when the coronavirus pandemic hit, the fight was postponed, Nurmagomedov was unable to compete, and Gaethje stepped in as the replacement.