One man with experience committing to an exit from active competition knows full well the difficulty that former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson is having amid an eight-fight skid.
Ferguson fell to an unwanted record at this past weekend's UFC Fight Night in Abu Dhabi, with fellow veteran Michael Chiesa sending him to the longest run of defeats in the promotion's history.
"El Cucuy" was finished inside the first round at the Etihad Arena, tapping out to a rear-naked choke after being comfortably taken down and offering little defense to the submission move.
In the aftermath, the 40-year-old initially appeared set to announce his retirement. But while the majority seemingly would have supported that move, the best they got was a half-retirement, and event that appeared to be quickly walked back in the aftermath.
Brown: Ferguson 'Has To Accept' His Time Has Gone
During the latest episode of MMA Fighting's The Writer vs. The Fighter, recently retired welterweight Matt Brown gave his assessment of Ferguson's current situation.
"The Immortal" brought his career to an end this year, having amassed the second most fights in the 170-pound division's history and falling below only heavyweight powerhouse Derrick Lewis for knockouts.
Brown retired a year on from his previous appearance, a brutal KO victory over Court McGee. The result ensured he hung up the gloves off the back of a 2-1 record across his final three fights, all of which netted him performance bonuses.
The ship appears to have sailed when it comes to Ferguson retiring on a similarly strong run of form, and Brown thinks "El Cucuy" is simply chasing a "high" that will never come again.
Look, when you lose eight in a row, it doesn’t matter where you’re at in your career...you should probably call it quits," Brown said. "Something isn’t right. Whatever it is. If you lost your first eight or you lost your last eight. The problem is he had so many wins, he was interim champion, on like a 12-fight winning streak back in the day. So he’s like a cocaine addict trying to reach that high again. When you get eight (losses), it doesn’t matter. If he had lost eight fights in a row at the beginning of his career...he would have quit most likely. He would have been like, 'Well, this definitely isn’t the sport for me, I lost eight fights in a row.' But because he’s already had that high, he’s thinking I can get back to that.
It’s like cocaine. It really is. That’s what walking into an Octagon and beating another man’s ass (feels like), especially the way Tony did where he just f*cking ripped people’s souls out of their bodies. That is a high you cannot get anywhere else, in any other way," Brown continued. "But you can’t chase that. You’ve got to accept that was the season of your life, and it’s time to move onto a new season.
Ferguson is yet to discuss his future since his comments inside the cage and at the post-fight press conference this past weekend. It remains to be seen whether he'll attempt another outing inside the Octagon, and whether the UFC will even let him.