Former UFC referee discusses Tony Ferguson's decline and suggests he move on from fighting: "You can't react to the same things"

A former UFC referee recently discussed Tony Ferguson's decline and suggested he move on from fighting. He noted that the former 'TUF' winner has taken a lot of damage in recent years and doesn't look capable of competing at the elite level now.

'El Cucuy' was one of the UFC's most feared lightweights for years, which would be on full display throughout his impressive 12-fight winning streak that lasted from 2013 until 2020. Ferguson's career took a turn for the worse at UFC 249, when he sustained a fifth-round TKO loss against Justin Gaethje in their interim lightweight title bout.

The former interim lightweight champion absorbed significant damage, which then had a negative effect on his durability in the bouts that followed.

During his latest appearance on Quinton 'Rampage' Jackson's JAXXON PODCAST, former UFC referee 'Big' John McCarthy mentioned that the Gaethje loss was a turning point and suggested that Ferguson take his competitive mindset and apply it to other areas:

"[Ferguson] took more damage in that one fight [against Gaethje] than he did in his entire career up to that point and it had an effect...he started to slow down and he couldn't take the same shots...You'll see the same things but you can't react to the same things...I would love to see Tony take his mentality...If he does those same things in a different direction, he's gonna be a success. But, you gotta hang up being the person that's actually stepping into the cage."

Check out John McCarthy's comments regarding Tony Ferguson's decline below:

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Josh Thomson credits loss to Tony Ferguson for realizing his career was coming to an end

In addition to John McCarthy's analysis on Tony Ferguson's decline, Josh Thomson echoed those sentiments and even credited his own loss to 'El Cucuy' in 2015 for realizing that his career was coming to an end.

During the aforementioned appearance, Thomson recalled absorbing significant damage against Ferguson and described how he reacted to it:

"My fight with Tony [Ferguson], in my mindset, my exit out...Like I had taken a lot of damage, I was able to complete the whole three rounds but just knowing that I had never taken that amount of damage in any fight before, ever. And just seeing where I was afterwards...I was showering, I was in hot water but I was shivering, so just body was in shock. That was my sign to saying to myself, 'Look, this is it. You're done'."

Check out Josh Thomson's comments regarding his loss to Tony Ferguson below: