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#2. Tony Ferguson vs. Kevin Lee, UFC 216
Before he faced Anthony Pettis, Tony Ferguson took on Kevin Lee at UFC 216 for the UFC interim lightweight championship. At the time, Kevin Lee was a surging contender in the UFC's 155 lbs weight class. On a 5-fight win streak, 'The Motown Phenom' looked set to meet everyone's expectations of him as a future world champion. Meanwhile, Ferguson was intent on defeating Lee to earn a hotly anticipated matchup with divisional rival Khabib Nurmagomedov.
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When both men crossed paths, Kevin Lee looked as good as he's ever had, with his skills and physical attributes operating in tandem. His powerful wrestling and striking initially proved successful as he consistently grounded Ferguson. Yet as the bout progressed and Lee began to get tired, 'El Cucuy's' elbows and guard play from the bottom troubled him tremendously.
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'The Motown Phenom' stopped scrambling after failed takedowns and eventually surrendered to a triangle choke in the 3rd round, awarding Ferguson one of the greatest wins of his career as he captured the UFC interim lightweight championship.
#1. Tony Ferguson vs. Rafael dos Anjos, UFC Fight Night 98
In 2016, Rafael dos Anjos was one of the toughest lightweights to beat in the division. While he lost his lightweight title to former Bellator MMA title-holder Eddie Alvarez after a dominant 5-fight win streak, 'RDA' was thought by some to have merely been caught by 'The Underground King' during an ill-timed exchange. Thus, his lone loss in 2 years did little to persuade fans that the man who dominated Benson Henderson, Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz and Anthony Pettis was on a downswing.
'RDA' was still very much at the peak of his skills and intent on recapturing the title he had lost a few months prior to his bout with Ferguson. It was by far the toughest test of 'El Cucuy's' career by that point. In the Fight of the Night, Tony Ferguson and Rafael dos Anjos threw everything in their arsenal at each other until Ferguson's volume and tenacity slowly overwhelmed the Brazilian great in one of his finest-ever performances.
