Former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson has shaken up the MMA world, and it’s not because of his ongoing losing skid. At 40 years old, ‘El Cucuy’ has maintained that he will be continuing his fighting career, but nobody expected it to be not in the UFC. Yes, Dana White and Co.’s new rivals, the Global Fight League (GFL), have signed Ferguson as per their recent announcement, so there might be questions surrounding the former interim champ’s status in the UFC. That’s exactly what we’re going to explore.

Tony Ferguson’s allegiance to a new promotion certainly came as a shock, to say the least. Having been affiliated with Dana White’s promotion for well over a decade, let’s see what happened that led to his UFC exit.

All we know about Tony Ferguson’s UFC contract and his move to the GFL

Tony Ferguson is yet to win since the start of this decade and after his last fight, he even hinted at his UFC retirement following his defeat to Michael Chiesa. ‘El Cucuy’ even removed one of his gloves, signaling the end of his UFC run. However, there wasn’t any official word on Ferguson’s retirement, and there was no report that suggested that his contract with the promotion was up. But after the Global Fight League’s announcement on social media, it became evident that the former interim champ’s UFC contract had expired.

A few weeks ago, Tony Ferguson even laid down plans of ‘re-inventing’ himself following a disastrous run in the last few years. “Completely Destroyed Myself … To Re-Invent It, As an Artist I Aim To show Something You’ve Never Seen Before. Happy New Year Crew. 2025 in my sights,” Ferguson stated on his Instagram account. It looks like Ferguson’s move to the GFL may have come off the heels of the UFC and Dana White no longer believing he can win at the highest levels.

Given that he’s 40 years old, and has found it hard to find his footing inside the Octagon in his last several fights, even Dana White didn’t have a positive outlook on Tony Ferguson’s future in his promotion. Let’s take a closer look at what the former UFC interim lightweight champion’s previous employer had to say.

What did Dana White say about Ferguson’s future in the UFC?

Prior to last August’s UFC on ABC 7, Dana White revealed that he was hoping for Tony Ferguson to finally hang up his glove and call it a career. He had mentioned that once in the past, and this time, he seemed adamant about it. “I would like to see him retire,” said the UFC CEO. With the news about his GFL move popping up all of a sudden, this sentiment from White might have already signaled that the end was near for Ferguson, at least in the UFC.

As we’ve mentioned already, the fight against Michael Chiesa was Tony Ferguson’s last fight under the UFC banner, and now he’s welcoming a new challenge. There are quite a lot of former UFC stars in the GFL, which makes us wonder about the potential dream fights we can witness. Moreover, it will be interesting to see if ‘El Cucuy’ can finally claim an undisputed world title in this promotion.

While some fans are worried about Tony Ferguson, given that he’s certainly not getting any younger, there are some fans who are eager to see what lies ahead for the former UFC interim champion. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below.