LAS VEGAS – For Tony Ferguson, training with David Goggins is exactly what he needed mentally.
Ferguson (25-9 MMA, 15-7 UFC) will look to snap a six-fight losing skid when he meets Paddy Pimblett (20-3 MMA, 4-0 UFC) in a lightweight bout on Saturday’s UFC 296 main card at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on ESPN2 and early prelims on ESPN+.
Ferguson sought out help from former Navy SEAL Goggins in his attempt to turn things around. “El Cucuy” went through intense cardio sessions where he completed Goggins’ notorious “Hell Week.”
“The reality part, it was hard as f*ck – one of the hardest things I’ve done in my life,” Ferguson told MMA Junkie and other reporters at Wednesday’s UFC 296 media day. “I’m glad I did it.”
Many such as Pimblett and Daniel Cormier questioned Ferguson for working on his mental and cardio game – an attribute they think is already a strength of his. But Ferguson insists it’s exactly the push he needed.
“I needed it,” Ferguson said. “I really did. I haven’t had somebody push me like that and not float my balloon any higher than it needed to be. I needed to throw up. I needed to get yelled at. I needed to go through that f*cking Hell Week.
“It was not easy. I know there’s not one other person in this world that could have went through that. That mental stuff, the physical, the emotional, bringing whatever I had to bring in there with everything I had to give – and I still have more to give.”
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 296.