Tony Ferguson took to Instagram on Tuesday night to criticize the work of one of his cornermen during his fight with Charles Oliveira at UFC 256.
Former UFC Interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson took to social media late on Tuesday night to blast one of his cornerman at UFC 256. Ferguson was extremely critical of the unnamed cornerman but said that their actions led to a lack of cohesion in-between the rounds of his fight with Charles Oliveira.
Make Sure Your Crew Has All The Tools They Need To Get The Job Done Right During Fight Week ✔️
Make Sure Cornermen Know Who Is Appointed Captain/Corner Before Fight. Wait,.. Here We Go.
How About Middle of # UFC256 between 1st-2nd Round Trying To Figure Out Why Your Appointed Cornermen Wasn’t There W/ You Talking Game Plans From Camp. Wtf 🤦♂️
Backstage One Of My Trusted Cornermen Lied to the others and said I said it was ok for them to take charge when I was getting changed. Completely Opposite What My Request Was Earlier To The Whole Team. This Person Was barely There At All Pre, & During Fight Week (Hadn’t Reviewed Gameplans Etc. So It Didn’t Make Sense.) As A Team It Was Noted. The Guy Basically bullied the others with seniority behind The scenes & Took position when UFC asked my team who was in charge. They Mic’d him up & there it went.
That person was such a good coach they forgot to bring me water in between rounds.
Thanks Tommy for getting it to me
Ferguson stated that his team was set to go with a lead coach/cornerman who would be in charge of discussing strategy during the fight. It should be noted, this is the approach most teams take on fight night with the head coach taking charge and the other cornermen following their lead when providing instruction as to efficiently get information to the athlete in the brief time in-between rounds and during the fight.
Per Ferguson, one of his cornermen lied to the others and said that it was okay for him assume the role of lead cornerman despite another member of the team having already been designated to the role ahead of time. This cornerman was reportedly not present for much of the training camp or during fight week and thus was not up to speed on the strategy and game plan that the team had been working on. Ferguson said that it led to an issue after the first round against Oliveira where he returned to the corner and his appointed lead cornerman was not able to discuss the strategy that they had discussed in camp.
Ferguson went on to say that this cornerman had used his seniority to force himself into the role and took the position when UFC production sought the lead cornerman to mic up for the broadcast. Though the former champion did not name which individual had forced himself into the role, he did indicate that it was not Tommy Aaron who is a Southern California based fighter who has competed for LFA in the past. The other two men who were on hand with Ferguson during the fight were former UFC fighter Francisco Rivera Jr and Anthony Murataya Gonzalez.
Immediately after the fight, Ferguson did note that he had put the team together on three weeks’ notice. It was also noted that he was without longtime Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu coach Eddie Bravo, a highly scrutinized choice considering Oliveira is one of the best grapplers in the division and is the all-time leader in submissions in the UFC. “El Cucuy” had also said that he struggled with his time management on fight night, specifically that he did not feel like he had adequately warmed up properly prior to walking out for the fight.
