5 times Tony Ferguson beat an opponent with a chokehold submission in the UFC

UFC 273 is right around the corner, but UFC 274 is almost ready with its match card and it promises to be an amazing day. Charles Oliveira and Justin Gaethje are ready for a spectacular main event for the undisputed lightweight championship, while Rose Namajunas will also defend her women's strawweight title in the co-main event. Former interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson and former Bellator MMA champion Michael Chandler have agreed on personal terms to have a fight at UFC 274 and if all goes well, we have a thriller waiting for us.

Chael Sonnen has said that Ferguson’s best days are not behind him, and that there is still more than enough to watch out for when ‘El Cucuy’ enters the ring. Of course, Chael Sonnen has been wrong many times before but there’s still more than enough to watch out for when Tony Ferguson’s name is on the match card.

'El Cucuy' has a large repertoire of moves - striking, grappling, submissions - but above all he possesses the knack for finishing an opponent. While there is always the satisfaction of a brutal dogfight, some of Ferguson’s most spectacular victories have ended with his opponent gasping for air and giving up. This experience can be very visceral when you see it unfold on your screen.

El Cucuy is lean, mean, unpredictable and a monster in the octagon. If there is a convincing way to win a match then it’s best to let Ferguson show it to us. Let's count 5 times Tony Ferguson made his opponent tap out:

#5. Tony Ferguson vs Lando Vannata UFC Fight Night: McDonald vs. Lineker - Fight of the Night

Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a cursed fixture in the MMA world, and this is one of those dream matches that has no chance of happening now that 'The Eagle' has retired. This was one of those times when Ferguson's match against Nurmagomedov could not be confirmed, so 'El Cucuy' found himself facing a UFC debutante as a replacement opponent.

Vannata was undefeated and on a 8 fight wins streak in his MMA career and as luck would have it, his first match in the UFC happened to be against one of the toughest fighters in the division. Ferguson humbled Vannata as he outclassed the rookie and handed him the first loss of his professional career.

Vannata's inferior conditioning got the better of him as the match progressed. He held his own for a few rounds until he got tired and Ferguson's superior cardio helped him in the brawl that followed. They went back and forth for a while until 'El Cucuy' got the opportunity to pull a guillotine choke on Vannata, which he quickly transitioned into a brado choke to finish the match. This would be the first of many chokes that he’d unleash on his unwitting opponents while competing in the UFC

#4. Tony Ferguson vs Mike Rio UFC 166 - Submission of the Night

Tony Ferguson's career has included a good amount of injuries. His match against Mike Rio at UFC 166 marked 'El Cucuy's return from a year's worth of downtime and he arrived in spectacular form. Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos were the highlights of the day as they would face off in the main event.

It may have seemed that the heavyweights would take the spotlight away from the other matches, but leave it to 'El Cucuy' to grab your attention and keep it there. A match with Rio might sound glamorous, but Ferguson was coming out of an injury, so a smaller challenge seemed logical to see if he still had it. It didn't take long for the fans to be assured of the fact that Ferguson still had it in him by the bucket load.

Sometimes 5 rounds are not enough to decide a winner and sometimes matches are decided within a few minutes. Rio swooped in for a takedown but got trapped in a chokehold that he couldn’t get out of. Ferguson proceeded to put his opponent in a grip that only fictional heroes could beat. Rio had no other choice but to tap out and give Ferguson the win in just 1:52.

#3. Tony Ferguson vs Abel Trujillo UFC 181

'El Cucuy" was on a 3 fight win streak when he was drawn up to face Abel, a young incoming fighter at UFC 181. There isn't much to note about Trujillo's record other than that he's on a long list of names that fought and lost against Khabib 'The Eagle' Nurmagomedov.

Maybe tonight was going to be the night that the underdog came out on top. After the first round ended, it seemed that Trullio was going to dominate Ferguson and break the streak. That was until Abel found himself on the wrong end of a rear-naked choke and had to give up. Tony’s arsenal of strikes and elbows means that he never gets props for his Brazilian jiu-jitsu skills. His string of submission finishes should be enough to silence some of his staunchest critics.

#2. Tony Ferguson vs Gleison Tibau UFC 184 - Performance of the Night

Tibau was on a 3 fight win streak in the UFC when he was matched up against Tony Ferguson at UFC 184. Ferguson has never won the undisputed title but he’s a beast when it comes to even the toughest in the game, so Tibau was going to have to do more than scramble to beat the speed, agility, and fight IQ of Ferguson. After a mainly striking game, 'El Cucuy' put his grappling skills on display and finished Tibau at with a rear-naked choke.

#1. Tony Ferguson vs Kevin Lee UFC 216

In yet another instance of the cursed ‘Nurmagomedov vs Ferguson’ chapter, Kevin Lee found himself facing 'El Cucuy' in 'The Eagle’s absence. The interim lightweight championship title was on the line in the main event of the evening and Ferguson was not about to let it slip out of his hands.

A five-match win streak earned Lee a match against 'El Cucuy' for the interim belt. Lee dominated Ferguson in the earlier rounds. His aggression had limits, however, as he found himself in a triangle choke and tapped out. Ferguson clinched the interim lightweight UFC championship belt after this fight at UFC 216.

This was also the same match as the infamous 'defend or vacate' callout where Tony Ferguson called Conor Mcgregor a McNugget.

If there’s one thing Michael Chandler needs to know about Tony Fergusson it’s that he’s going to bring every bit of his versatility into the octogan with him. Chandler is going to have to look beyond wing chun strikes and flying elbows as 'El Cucuy' has it in him to flip the match around in the dying minutes.