Tony Ferguson’s mentality might just be UNBREAKABLE, he has shown time and time again that his drive to win is unparalleled. Although credit to Dariush for showcasing his high level grappling. Once Dariush got Ferguson down, Ferguson had no answer.
In the fight, Ferguson was definitely the crowd favorite, as a lot of fans were chanting for Tony to win but unfortunately he did not even win a single round against Dariush. Even though he was an underdog, many thought that the fight would be close, but Ferguson is just not the fighter that he used to be.
Similar to Ferguson’s fight against Oliveira, he still refused to tap despite the submission was locked in. This time the submission was heel hook, where he had no choice but to suffer from the pain, Dariush was even shocked as to why he did not tap since he felt the knee popped.
Many fans would commend Ferguson for not tapping but at the end of the day he still needs to receive the consequence of possible permanent damage. There are fighters like GSP where they tap, instantly mainly because their philosophy is to live to fight another day.
As for Dariush, he has shown to have one of the best ground control in the division. Most of the top contenders right now are high level strikers but Dariush and Oliveira are the two best grapplers in the division right outside of Khabib. Although it could change in the near future, as a lot of rising contenders like Islam Makhachev is on the rise.
