Tony Ferguson is a California native but grew up in a small Midwestern town. In Muskegon, Michigan, Ferguson’s father started him in sports to help him fit in. In high school, Ferguson took to athletics very well and got several awards of excellence in football, baseball, and wrestling. He was All-State in wrestling and won the 152 lb division in 2002. Later, In 2011 Tony signed with the UFC to compete as a welterweight MMA fighter, according to Bloody Elbow. In "the Ultimate Fighter," Ferguson advanced all the way to the final episode of the show; he defeated O'Neil via TKO in the third round.

In the finals, Ferguson earned the Knockout of the Night bonus for finishing Nijem and became the Ultimate Fighter Season 13 winner.

Ferguson began his UFC career as a lightweight

At UFC 135, he fought Aaron Riley in the 155 lb weight class. The fight was a back-and-forth battle, but in the last round, Ferguson dominated and earned a TKO win, leaving Riley with a broken jaw. Ferguson got 17 of his 21 career victories by stoppage and his eight-fight winning streak in UFC is the fourth longest streak after Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, and Max Holloway. On November 5, 2016, at The Ultimate Fighter Latin America Season 3 Finale, Tony battled former champion Rafael dos Anjos and won the fight by unanimous decision.

Both fighters got the "Fight of the Night performance."

Ferguson is once again expected to face Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 209

Ferguson was going to face Khabib Nurmagomedov on December 11, 2015, at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. But, Nurmagomedov canceled the fight, announcing an injury, and Edson Barboza stepped in. Khabib rescheduled for April 16, 2016, at UFC on Fox.

But on April 5, Ferguson had to pull out of the fight because of his lungs and was replaced by Darrell Horcher. Although Tony was holding out for more money, President Dana White disclosed "El Cucuy" was not getting paid the same as the Russian. Finally, top ranked lightweights Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will step into the Octagon at Ufc 209 on March 4th and clash for the interim lightweight title.
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