"That was beyond human" - When referee Mark Smith reacted to Tony Ferguson bearing through Charles Oliveira's armbar

Tony Ferguson may have suffered a dip in form recently, but one thing's for sure – 'El Cucuy' never quits. During the first round of his fight with Charles Oliveira at UFC 256 last December, 'Do Bronx' caught Ferguson with a deep armbar, almost ripping his left arm off.

Despite being in excruciating pain, Ferguson refused to tap, leaving everyone in awe of his pain threshold and willpower. He lost the fight via unanimous decision.

Referee Mark Smith, who was in charge of the fight, described how Tony Ferguson bore through Oliveira's vicious armbar that made his arm bend backwards unnaturally.

During a conversation with Joe Rogan on his podcast, Smith described Ferguson's resilience as "beyond human":

"That was beyond human because he will not tap. When Charles transitioned from across the chest and under the underarm, Tony grunted and he [bore] through it. Look how close I am so I'm doing two things – one I'm looking for a dislocation, separation or break, but I'm also listening to see if it's going to be a crack or verbal, you know a crack in the arm or a verbal submission [but] he did not."

Check out Mark Smith talking about the armbar below:

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Tony Ferguson must win his next fight to stay relevant as an elite lightweight

After a string of disappointing performances inside the octagon, Tony Ferguson currently finds his back to the wall, desperately needing a win in his next fight. 'El Cucuy' is currently on a three-fight losing streak and could hardly muster any offense in those fights.

Before losing to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249, which began his skid, Ferguson was on an incredible 12-fight win streak. However, that's how quickly fortunes change in the fight game.

UFC president Dana White was recently quoted in TSN Sport's Aaron Bronsteter's Twitter post as saying that the promotion had already booked Ferguson's next fight.

However, he did not reveal the opponent. During the UFC Vegas 45 post-fight press conference, White said:

"I think we have a fight for Tony Ferguson. I think we have him lined up with somebody."

Tony Ferguson was stopped by Justin Gaethje in the fifth round of their fight at UFC 249 in May 2020. It was his first loss in eight years. Interestingly, Ferguson was booked to fight then-champion Khabib Nurmagomedov on that date.

However, the fight was canceled as the Russian could not travel due to COVID-19 restrictions. It was the fifth time the two were scheduled to meet in the octagon without a fight materializing.