Tony Ferguson believes his training with David Goggins is essential to his preparation for his bout against Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296.
Ferguson hopes to end his six-fight losing skid when he enters the cage with the young fighter this weekend. To do so, the veteran sought the aid of former Navy SEAL Goggins to train him. However, many question the pairing of the two, with some fighters noting that cardio is not the area that Ferguson needs to focus on.
Daniel Cormier was the first to voice his concern after Goggins posted a video of the fighter vomiting during their training. Bobby Green and Pimblett later echoed the same view, while Dan Hardy said that “El Cucuy” needs someone like Freddie Roach, not Goggins. Ferguson thinks otherwise.
“Everybody else, f*** you,” Ferguson told his critics. “Being real. Everybody thinks it’s easy. Everybody on f****** Instagram, they can say whatever the f*** they want. They want to train with him. It’s an experience. It’s life-changing s***.”
“The reality part, it was hard as f***. One of the hardest things I’ve done in my life. I’m glad I did it. To be real, I didn’t know what chief was about. I really didn’t. I knew that I needed to do it. I showed up, no questions asked. No bulls***. It was always, ‘Yes sir, yes coach.’ It didn’t matter what time it was or what we had to do, no questions. No, ‘How many are we doing? How long are we going to go?’ No, whatever.”
Ferguson also didn’t mince words when talking about “The Baddy,” who currently has a clean slate for winning his first four UFC fights. Despite his opponent’s current success, the former interim lightweight champ thinks his experience will outweigh the Briton’s performance inside the octagon.
“He’s a fighter and he’s in my way,” said El Cucuy. “I don’t really have too many words for it. The seriousness comes out the closer we get to fight. He’s worried about me blocking him on f****** Instagram and I’m like, you’re a little b****. If you’re going to talk f****** s***, man up and keep your f****** balls between your legs. Don’t drop them like a little b****.
“I’m going to hit him hard. I’m going to set the pace. I’m going to make his face a ketchup sandwich.”
