The Film Room: Tony Ferguson
UFC 229 is now available on Amazon Prime.
After being stripped of his Ultimate Fighting Championship interim lightweight title earlier this year, Tony Ferguson is looking for revenge at UFC 229 and a win over Anthony Pettis would put him in line for the winner of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor.
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El Cucuy
Ferguson has long been one of the best lightweight fighters in the world, but he has spent most of his career under the radar. Despite a 13-1 UFC record, many thought he didn’t beat anybody of relevancy, but his dominant victories over Rafael dos Anjos and Kevin Lee proved to the world that we are watching one of the best in the game. But that’s not enough for Ferguson. He wants to be known as the greatest lightweight of all time and a win over Pettis to set up a super fight with with Nurmagomedov or McGregor might put him in the conversation.
Ferguson is one of the most creative and unorthodox strikers in the sports’ brief history, and he perfectly mixes the basics of combat sports with creativity. When working on the lead, Ferguson sets a relentless pace and walks forward with varied combos and is as comfortable as anybody when trading in the pocket. Ferguson can fight out of both stances and generally likes to look for a rear-straight to lead hook or a dipping lead uppercut to rear-straight when advancing, although you never really know what he's going to throw when working on the lead.
Not only can Ferguson fight out of both stances, but as a true ambidextrous fighter, he is able to hide his stance switches in motion. At the highest levels, most fighters can strike out of both stances, but few can hide the switches in motion and trick their opponents into thinking they are in the other stance before throwing strikes from an unexpected angle from the opposite side. A fighter who can fluidly switch stances in motion creates a variety of attacks from which to choose, which in turn overloads the opponent’s reactions due to all the possibilities. When an orthodox fighter faces another, he knows what is available to him on offense and defense. However, when an opponent switches to southpaw, a new realm of possibilities opens. When switching back and forth, opportunities are constantly opening and closing, making this style difficult to read.
Although usually the leading attacker, Ferguson has good countering instincts, especially against equally aggressive opponents like Kevin Lee. His go-to counter is a simple intercepting jab, but he also routinely looks for counter uppercuts. Notice on most of these counters how he comes forward with a quick 2-3 strike combo instead of a single precision strike. Although precision counter strikers like McGregor are all the rage, for an aggressive striker like Ferguson, it’s better to counter with a quick combo while the opponent is overextended or off-balance to dissuade them from being the leading attacker.
Although he is one of the best strikers in the sport today, Ferguson does have his fair share of weaknesses on the feet. Since he is usually the leading man, he can become flustered by an equally aggressive striker and has a tough time getting off any offense when being pressured. Lando Vannata nearly beat Ferguson in his Octagon debut by pushing the pace and not allowing Ferguson to be the leading attacker; Rafael dos Anjos had brief moments of success doing the same.
But the most glaring hole in Ferguson’s defense is his tendency to drop hands when throwing leg kicks. He often leans far back with both hands by his side when throwing and has been countered doing so many times throughout his UFC tenure. Pettis is certainly not a great counter striker, but he is adept at catching kicks and firing off a counter rear-straight, which could work wonders against Ferguson.
Ferguson’s striking prowess may be what got him to the dance, but what makes him one of the most feared lightweights on the planet is his equally robust grappling. Six of his 13 UFC victories are via submission, including three of his last four, and he got his start in martial arts by wrestling as a child and eventually took the 2006 NCWA championship. Something to note about his grappling is his Imanari and Granby roll transitions. Ferguson doesn't have the best takedown defense or bottom game, so when he is being taken down he often looks for a Granby roll to escape or reverse position. As for the Imanari rolls, he hasn’t landed many successfully but it further adds to his already creative style and again overwhelms opponents with options to think about.
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