How talented of a striker was Tony Ferguson in his prime?

Portland8242

Portland8242

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Going through some of Tony's fights during his huge win streak, his fights are incredibly entertaining but I'm actually surprised how far he got. I don't wanna say he's not talented, cause I think he is, but there's just some glaring holes in his game.

Everybody always knocked him for his crap defense and rightfully so. But offensively, how did you think Tony was? He obviously loves to swarm and pressure, he jabs good from both sides and he'd be a lot better with some of his other punching combos if he didn't leave himself so open to get countered all the time. Kicking wise I'm just not hat impressed, his leg kicks are very telegraphed and he doesn't really use round kicks to the body or head very often. Seems like he prefers that teep to kick the body.

His fight with RDA is IMO the only fight we really saw him fight with any intelligence, and he looked very sharp and crisp in 4 of those rounds anyway IMO.
 
One of the most unique styles forsure.
Probably one of the steepest declines we have ever witnessed tho the fact that he lost too Nate was truly embarrassing, that fight happens a few years earlier and nate leaves in a casket.<BC1>
 
PabloBassquez said:
A few years earlier and Nate leaves in a casket.
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D1 Tony
nate-diaz-tony-ferguson.gif
 
I don't think he was super great, but he wasn't bad either. Definitely one of the more unique strikers we've seen in the UFC He got hurt and dropped a lot in many of his fights at his peak, and was often losing until he wasn't. Quite a few of his wins were from him managing to outlast and out tough guys who were getting the better of him.
 
Not great but he trained by punching trees and metal poles so when he did hit you it hurt different
 
His striking and striking defense weren't particularly skillful or technical. He compensated with his cardio and pressure. And when someone was able to expose the holes in his striking, he had a solid chin and was able to recover.
 
Striker? 6.7/10 because he pulled creative ways in bad situations and was hard to predict.
Look at the cowboy fight.
 
Tony was never particularly skilled anywhere. That’s not to say he wasn’t skilled but he wasn’t a standout amongst his peers in any particular discipline. His best attributes were his toughness, unorthodox style, pressure, and pace. He’d drag people into wars and these attributes helped him thrive in the chaos.
 
Amazing for having basically no real MMA gym and teammates that he constantly trained with

Awkward and got hit a lot but he managed to put it all together with constant aggression, great cardio, chin and will to win
 
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He was extremely unconventional and unpredictable, he wouldn’t have been successful if he didn’t have an iron chin and great recovery. that being said he was extremely effective at getting other fighters to wilt and fold, prime Tony would’ve been competitive with any LW on the planet.
 
VonSupervillain said:
His striking and striking defense weren't particularly skillful or technical. He compensated with his cardio and pressure. And when someone was able to expose the holes in his striking, he had a solid chin and was able to recover.
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Yep. Not too good defensively, pretty good offensively. But striking was just a part of his game along with his zombie-like ability to get stronger every round while opponents got weaker...and a great chin/durability...and being a good scrambler and dangerous on the ground.

That's why you can't isolate one area and overanalyze too much in MMA. In his prime, his striking usually started out pretty sketchy but looked sharper as his opponents got beaten down and gassed.
 
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