Ex-Champ Reportedly Leaves UFC, Signs with MMA’s Newest Promotion

After 11 years and 24 fights under the UFC banner, Tony Ferguson is apparently moving on from the Octagon.
Many wondered what the future would look like for the former UFC interim lightweight champion, not having won since 2019, his last victory a TKO-stoppage over Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone. Ferguson's career hit a bit of a crossroads following his latest fight, where he suffered his eighth consecutive loss to Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi in August.
Ferguson semi-retired from the UFC then and there, laying one glove down instead of the usual two that signifies a fighter's retirement.
Tony Ferguson the type of guy to retire one glove at a time 🔥💪🫡 - CSO - pic.twitter.com/oCWbdkTIqx
— 𝖈𝖚𝖙𝖙𝒚 (@cuttycreek) August 3, 2024
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GFL Signs Tony Ferguson
Six months later and with no UFC fight announcements for Ferguson, the Global Fight League (GFL), a new MMA promotion that has signed dozens of ex-UFC fighters, announced on Friday that Ferguson was among the recent signees.
Considered one of the greatest lightweights of all time for his 12-fight tear through the division, Ferguson will compete at welterweight (170lbs) - the same weight class as when he won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter.
The GFL isn't your normal MMA promotion, the new player investing in a draft format which begins today. Out of 420+ fighters, only 120 will be selected for a spot on 6 global teams. We'll see where each fighter lands soon enough, including 32-year-old UFC veteran Kevin Lee, a former foe of Ferguson's.
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There are still questions about the legitimacy of the GFL, as the new promotion previously announced signings of several fighters who they never signed in the first place.
Something's going on with GFL at the moment as multiple fighters announced as "signed" by the promotion, issued that they never signed any contract.
— Al Zullino (@phre) January 20, 2025
A miscommunication between the promotion and their managements, maybe? Possibly they wanted to sign but can't legally do it yet? pic.twitter.com/aYkGdN91gY
As of this writing, Tony Ferguson has not commented on the news of his signing.
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