Tony has never showed any signs or willingness to hurt either his wife or kids, he gets paranoid and intense as fuck but there are no reports or statements of him ever being violent if that's what you meant. His wife is a fucking saint though, true love right there.
@@QenaitheCustodianGuard That might change if he comes to believe his wife is not his wife anymore. He accused her of being a witch and doused her in holy water. Just because he hasn't been violent towards her yet doesn't mean he never will be. He seems like a good person who cares about his family and it seems like his delusions centre around that too, protecting his child specifically. But if he believes that his wife is an impostor intent on harming his child for example, in his mind violence may seem like a logical response. Our reality and his don't align in those moments and this could all end in tragedy. I fear for his safety and the safety of those he loves.
@QenaitheCustodianGuard dog that is straight up untrue. Tony's wife (a fucking Saint, no lie) has called the cops on him because he was actively endangering his child and her. His erratic paranoid behavior is a HUGE danger to his children especially when his wife is telling the cops that he is throwing holy water at her and tearing up her home. You don't file MULTIPLE restraining orders unless they are a danger to the rest of your family. He destroyed their home and forced his wife to live with her parents before nearly KIDNAPPING his son
@@QenaitheCustodianGuard Chris Benoit showed no signs either. Everybody who knew him said his family was the most important thing to him. And look what happend.
This scares this shit out of me .I used to hallucinate alot as a child and I thought my mother was a witch on multiple occasions like Tony. I once hallucinated an earthquake and saw my house fall apart I crawled under my bed and found a hatch I crawled inside and was getting humiliated by a towel/ blanket. I spoke to it threw my mind for hours as it bullied me ripping apart and giving me the deepest feeling of dread imaginable. I woke up in bed, and for months I thought the world was fake and it had been replaced. I can only imagine what Tony’s going threw.
@@1994mrmysteryman I’m fine these days thanks for asking it’s weird because I don’t remember everything but I vividly remember a few hallucinations like the hatch and I can remember my vision slowly sliding down my body and off the bed falling into blackness with a floating sensation and having conversations with multiple people. It’s hard to describe I didn’t hear the voices and it wasn’t in any language but I could understand everything at the time and see faces ,it felt like hours. It always felt like they where evaluating my character and I was ashamed of who I was and my family so embarrassed I felt like chest was going to explode trying to prove myself to these beings And sometimes I’d snap out and be half conscious while the hallucinations where still there and it was scary af.
I remember how Jack Slack described Tony in his prime, “he doesn’t so much cook people with pressure as much as he drags them into the fire with him.” He was always such an inspiration for the human sacrifices he’d make in the octagon, taking huge damage to himself as he submerged people in violence. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to see this unbreakable man keep throwing himself into that fire, trading brain cells for money
@@AndrewOzolins People with psychosis usually aren’t violent, statistically they’re only slightly more likely than the average population to commit violent acts. But with that said, most people with psychosis aren’t professional fighters, they aren’t riddled with CTE and they don’t have a drinking problem… Tony’s entire life leading up to this point has been a ticking time bomb. I cannot imagine a scenario where there’s any happy ending for him after his career is over.
@Tonysopranoyafinook off yourself immediately. You’re worthless laughable pathetic excuse for a human being. No one likes you, you will never be loved.
Gathje vs Tony in that dead quiet arena reminded me of Batman Vs Bane. The amount of head trauma Tony received in that fight was insane. Tony had years taken off not only his career but his life that night.
I remember reading about his psychotic episodes back around the time that the “moon flood” happened and thinking that the UFC should have assisted in his retirement then. It’s pretty disturbing that they’ve allowed him to continue, especially considering the punishment he’s taken. I can’t fathom the horror his wife/family have been through. Imagine waking to your spouse standing over you in a dark room and they start accusing you in all seriousness of being a witch or talking to you like you’re a stranger.
That’s a last resort solution. There are several steps to take before you put someone in a psych ward. I had a friend go to one recently and she was in it for a week. No alcohol. Been 2 years, she hasn’t drank since. It also cost 14 gs too 😐😅
@@lowlowseeseethey could buy him out of his contract. But they’d rather see his life in shambles and squeeze every once of fame he has left and feed him to some up and comer for a huge KO
I just pray nothing terrible happens. I think Tony is a good human being, but CTE + alcoholism + literal paranoid schizophrenia is a hell of a combination. I just hope he gets the help he needs and enjoys a healthy life outside the octagon. Because he absolutely has the potential of being UFC’s Chris Benoit.
Yea I think you're right that's why it's so sad. He's a great guy but he's losing it. And things like this don't usually get better they get worse. And I feel like he's gonna keep fighting.
6:38 just wanted to add that Charles Oliveira said in an interview or something after the fight (it's been so long but maybe you can find it) where he said after Tony didn't submit to the armbar in round 1, he didn't want to go for more submissions because he knew he would permanently hurt Tony because he just wouldn't tap (at the time). Charles really respects Tony, I mean he copied the hair, glasses, and he even did Tony's "WOO!" at his weigh in once.
I don’t know how relevant my comment will be, but I also clearly remember Olivera being super respectful and offering Tony to come to Brazil to train together. And Tony did not respond in a good way lol - the signs have been here for a while , I remember mentioning some of these problems back in 2019 but nobody gives a F until it’s too late
@ThePlaylist99 Your comment is very relevant. I remember that too. The Brazilian guys are actually cool af and will invite people to train all the time. Tony should have went.
@@ThePlaylist99I think he’s an independent guy and doesn’t like it when someone offers help or even praises him as he sees it as disrespect. I mean remember in the khabib press conference where the reporter praised him for pushing through his mental health struggles and Tony was pissed and said f you to the guy
@@ThePlaylist99 He insisted he was such a super star that he had to wear sunglasses inside It was 2018 when he tanked his career and I have been worried about him since. So, I am 1 year better than you.
Also, I believe there's something to be said about the role us fans have in this. For years we admired Tony for being able to withstand inhuman amounts of punishment. And not only him, we constantly hype up fighters that can take a punch and go on. There's nothing wrong with being tough, but guys like Tony get to a point where they're too tough for their own good, and we cheer that on. Mma is a violent sport that's just the nature of the beast, but having fighters that receive tons of damage in this weird pedestal may give them an incentive to be more reckless and that shit's not healthy at all.
There is something genuinely impressive about Tony's resilience and seeming immunity to pain. I don't know if he was lying but it's crazy that he withstood the Oliveira armbar and the leglock from Dariush without sustaining any major injury. Watching those, I was sure his joints were shredded. Also the timetable he healed his knee after the wire incident didn't make any sense. I think Tony isn't just too tough for his own good, he's a victim of his own reputation.
They are grown men. Real men. They know the price to their health nowadays more than ever. With that said I definitely understand what you are putting down. @@BeigeFrequency
Tony’s mental illness preceded his pro-career. I’m most disappointed in the organization. It has the resources to take care of a fighter who’s clearly lost his mind and has a record of dangerous psychotic episodes. It’s wringing him out like a rag.
Doctor's stoppages and TKO's should be more accepted. If fighters can't intelligently defend themselves, there's no point allowing the "fight" to continue, it's not a fight anymore, just a beatdown
@@NatureBoy420you get more cut up and localized swelling with bare knuckles, but you cannot hit as hard, which means it's easier to get brain injuries with gloves on. Bare knuckles MMA would arguably be better for fighters' long term health.
Tony is a prime example of why I have a hate/love with boxing and MMA. I mean, seriously what do you expect to happen when a man loves to fight, gets paid to fight, and gets millions of adoring fans when you fight? How do you transition to normal life? The game itself treats you horrendously. When you win, you’re a god, when you loose your treated like shit. Combined with just getting into the game you already have to reject most everyone telling you you can’t make it. So, even when you should retire who can you listen to / trust. It’s rough.
I feel like in boxing there has been a bit of a change in recent times. Guys like Danny Garcia, Victor Ortiz, Leo Santa Cruz, Omar Figueroa Jr, Mikey Garica, Jose Ramirez, to name a few Americans, all of them started fighting less and less frequently and it seems like walking away from the sport was somewhat easier for them. Some walked away early, some are chasing that one last fight but others were forced out over the years. All of them in good health and with some wealth. Its probably a lot easier to turn to normal life when you fight just once a year.
My heart really goes out to Tony and his family. Watching a loved ones mental decline is heartbreaking. My mum had early onset dementia and passed away during Covid. Over 6 years we all saw the decline in her faculties, and watch her personality change, coupled with explosive delusional outbursts that slowly became more frequent. There were instances where she wouldn't recognize any of her family, thinking she had been kidnapped, bashing on the windows and doors trying to escape. One time she ran out of the house and onto the road, flagging down a car, telling the driver she was being held hostage. She would also be very suspicious of food that was prepared for her, thinking that it had been poisoned, or make cryptic remarks, like refusing to drink a cup of tea I made for her because it was, "too dark". Mental illness is such a heavy burden and I feel for anybody going through it, or has a loved one struggling with it. My heart breaks for Tony and his family, I know how hard this must be for all of them, and I truly hope he gets the help he needs.
@@damnitbobby4383- nobody will speak of that as he is still a big money maker. They won’t tarnish their goats name. How many people even mention the steroids and hide behind it being small amounts, even though he hid under a ring for 12 hours (allegedly), or his brother got suspended for the same? They pick and choose whose name they drag through the mud.
One of my extremely good friends took a glancing bullet to his to his head when we were in Afghanistan. Initially he was doing well, was making good progress in physical rehabilitation, his personality was pretty similar, but he was more subdued. We all thought it was just him focusing on getting himself back to where he was before he got zapped in the head. After awhile, we all realized it wasn’t. He had TBI, and was actually pretty dangerous to be around. He was having mental breaks multiple times a week, his temper went off the charts, and his behavior went completely off the rails. Brain damage is a horribly scary thing.
That is because our brain is far more than just our processor. It is where evrything about us resides. We often like to glorify and mystify our values, characteristics and corresponding attributes as some kharmic mumbo-jumbo. Thinking of these things as pieces of our "soul". But everybody, who deals with brain injuries and dementia, knows that this is a bunch of nonsense. All these things, that we take for spiritually granted, are anchored and rooted in our flesh. But of course, it is hard to see any romance in that.
@@MightyJabroni this isn't true at all. You'll find with people with brain damage their underlying personality is still there but the inhibitions are often gone, the limiting factor. So you'll have outbursts of what has always existed in them but they're suddenly way less able to control it. I've been around multiple people with these issues so I know it first hand. Even people with sever dementia, they won't know the name of their relativr but they will understand they have a deep emotional connection to them. So their brain is screwed but another element of them is connected to their relative.
@@jamesfranko5098 A ruin may still resemble the house that it once was (because what else should it resemble). But it is a ruin nonetheless. Of course, the brain and the habitual patterns, biographical knowledge etc. will not go from hundred to zero in a very short space of time (unless major sudden trauma occurs). But add enough trauma over time or otherwise degenerative processes and all bets are increasingly off. The smidgens of "underlying personality" become more episodic and what comes in their place can be highly erratic and volatile. "..... the inhibitions are often gone, the limiting factor. So you'll have outbursts of what has always existed in them but they're suddenly way less able to control it." But how does that point towards a fundamentally unchanged "underlying personality"? We all clench our fists in our pocket and grind our teeth, from time to time. And we all may experience episodes of being emotional or angry against our better judgement. These things are so intrinsically human that they are part of almost everyone's personality. They are exactly the kinds of cylinders that you would expect to fire, when the great degenerative brain randomizer does it's rotten thing.
@@jamesfranko5098 nope, drugs, incisions, electricity, kinetic energy, force, magnetism, pressure all alter the brain activity and thus who you are and the course of your life because of the domino effect, and it's roll the dice on what happens too all those neurons and connections in there are permanently altered by these things, it's commonly understood in science fields that study behavior and it's relation to the brain that the brain provably is far more sensitive and subject to so many factors than what the majority of the population thinks, if you zap the limbic system, or the places in the brain associated with behavior, the person changes it's as simple as that, i don't think you know what you talking about fam
I had a small idea of his mental health history. I had no clue about all the details. Hope Tony gets the help he needs. Hope this is a wake up call to all fighters too that consider themselves “warriors” similar to Tony. Honestly praying for my guy, he needs all support possible
We've been saying Tony's eggs are scrambled for years now, even before the Justin fight... but Justin broke loose his brain stem and turned him into a full-blown tragedy.
While Cowboy "probably" loses that fight anyways, interesting to think how it would've played out if he hadn't blown up his own face clearing his nostril
@@matthewhall1467 that was a strange oversight from Cerrone. I think he just did it without thinking and had an oh shit moment later when his face ballooned up.
Incredibly sad to see how far his career has fallen. I do believe he would have lost to Khabib, but the thought of them matching up in their prime was so enticing. Shame to see how he has spiraled which was brilliantly detailed in this video. Excellent work, Beige!
I’m a brain health scientist and honestly one of the greatest tragedies in sports right now is the fact that Ferguson is still fighting despite all of this.
I haven't even watched this yet but i'm already going to say- YES. I think Tony seems to have some emotional trauma, which he has been able to circumvent and even use to his advantage in becoming extremely mentally tough.... but, i think he has gone way too far with that and the reason he can't/ won't stop is because he will probably have a huge breakdown when he does, and it might be too much to bare tbh, when you've built this persona of being the ultimate tough guy....
It's way past worrying, our guy has already fallen. It's only a question of how much he gets ground into the dirt before people are done with him. Unfortunately, Tony is the type of guy you can't make do anything. IMHO the tipping point was the last Khabib matchup. Showing up to fight Pettis the same night he was scheduled to fight Khabib was entirely to prove a point. He got away with it that time, but in hindsight it seems to be when he started getting desperate. Tearing a ligament from tripping is not normal, his physical decline has begun. No one wanted to see it because we love him for exactly that kind of attitude. It took a bit to catch up in his fights, but the dude was trying to WILL himself to be ok when he wasn't and that's not how it works. He's spent so much of his life willing himself through shit, there's no reason to expect he'll change that approach for his mental health.
I went to high school with Tony. He was a few grades ahead of me but was always nice and seemed like a good guy. Haven't spoke with him since the early 2000s. I really hope he realizes he needs help and gets it.
@11:58 The thing where he bought a life raft & drove his family all the way to the desert because he thought the entire state was going to flood out of nowhere was completely nuts. Holy sh1t. I can see why his wife put a restraining order on him. I'm sure it's hard for both of them.
And to think that happened before the Gaethje fight and the Chandler ko makes it even scarier. He's is taking tons of damage to an already damaged brain.
It's one of those things that goes overlooked but if you think about it, tony severely dehydrated himself for no fucking reason. And then due to the time constraints was probably not able to properly recover. Then fucking did it again. In that regard, it's unsurprising to me that the Gaethje fight was the one that broke him.
@@rocchi5706 I remember when I first learn about Tony double weight cut I was looking it up and I saw an old Twitter post of Tony showing his second weight cut. A lot of his fans were cheering him on before the Gaethje fight
I fear that the end of Tony Ferguson’s story will be one of great tragedy. Knowing the kind of guy he really is, I think the end of his career will be the darkest period of his life that I think has the potential to break him, seeing as fighting and being a fighter is his life and identity, and losing that would be devastating for him. We’ve seen many fighters fight for too long, or spiral out of control. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony has it the worst out of them all. The damage that he has taken will impair his quality of life, and it is all but guaranteed he has CTE. Given the pattern of reckless and deeply concerning behavior, he might end up in trouble later on as a result. We have seen athletes from other sports where concussions and head trauma is a regular occurrence commit horrible crimes and actions because of their CTE and the confounding factors that exacerbate their conditions. And I hope my fears for him nevAr come true and that he lives a long, happy, fulfilled life, but the signs of this ending in tragedy must not be ignored
@Tonysopranoyafinook Tony is still Tony, its just his body is completely broken down and his already existing problems with mental health have become worse and will get worse because of the damage he has taken and his identity and passion now being out of reach. There is no former Tony, this is the real Tony and where he is at in life right now, and comparing Tony to someone who has Alzheimer’s is pretty stupid. He’s suffering from erratic/manic behavior because of a long list of negative factors affecting his mental health and talking about him like he’s some mindless zombie is tonedeaf and not based in reality
@@bronmill33 I'm sorry, but you're vastly downplaying how serious Tony's current state is. For example, Benoit was described after his autopsy of having the same brain as that of an 80 year old with severe and advanced Alzheimers, weeks before people said he was fine just acting weird. And that was from pro wrestling, not actual combat. And Tony is one of the fighters with the most accumulated damage. I honestly fear for Tony.
I was a hardcore Tony fan even after the Gaethje Loss and continued being one after the oliviera fight. The fight with Nate seemed like it would've been the ideal farewell fight and an alarming wake up call.
All the fighters that cut weight that i've heard talk about Tony specifically cutting weight twice said there is no way that didn't hurt him, it may have been the reason he wasn't able to absorb the damage in the Gaethje fight like he had in other fights. I know he has been hit by kicks that are harder than Justin's punches, certainly not as many though. Either way post Gaethje and pre Gaethje is real for Tony.
Recently Gilbert Burns beat Masvidal at UFC287 then fought Belal Muhammed a month later. I was obvious that Burns was hurt by two weight cuts in a month. I'm not say he would he beat Belal without it, but he almost certainly wouldn't have looked so sluggish and tired at 288. Weight cuts too closely together are no joke.
I've always been worried about Tony.. but after the fight with Justin I've been extremely worried that one day I'm going to log on to Twitter and see that Tony pulled a Chris Benoit and self deleted himself and his family. I think fighting is all that man knows and once that's taken away from him he's going to spiral. I know Tony should retire but when he makes comments like "I'm not retiring yet" I feel some sort of relief because at least he's still got fighting to keep him somewhat sane for now.
11:47 ok he was wrong about the Great flood but the facts are he's a great father he was already prepared for such a scenario he was proactive in his reactions and you're just here wishing bad things on him because he made a misguided decision the great flood was going to happen Show some respect for arguably the greatest lightweight fighter that ever lived
Tony is a ticking time bomb. I can’t think about him without worrying about his wife and kids. He has serious mental health problems, CTE out the ass and a drinking problem. Sadly I think the only thing keeping him from going over the edge is fighting, when fighting is no longer an option I’m afraid he’s gonna go completely off the rails.
I legit almost cried watching Tonv y Justin. It’s like watching a distant relative or friend get brutalised. I love this sport but scenes like that hurt me heart.
My kids mom is bipolar with schizo effective disorder and bpd..I wish the best for tony and his family..unless you’ve actually been the main person somebody that sick is connected to..it’s impossible to imagine how fucked up it is
@@jarrettlowery2802i had a very similar eclipse meltdown and it freaked me out when Beige gave the details. I don't know how shared delusion works but its eerie. I was telling my whole family the moon was going to fall out of the sky and cause tidal waves. I wish i knew how 2 people would independently start ranting in the same way. I don't like it..
Honestly, I think this was just bound to happen. Ferguson was and still is an absolute animal but there's only so far blocking with your face and sheer toughness can get you in high level combat sports. I think what we really saw against Gaethje was his style being exposed. Justin held his ground, landed his shots, circled out and kept calm.
Been thinking about this since his first health scare. Glad you made a video about it. I hope he finds a way to transition to a stable and fulfilling life outside of fighting. It’s a brutal transition for nearly every fighter but Tony deserves a strong support system to help him get through it.
some years back i had my own personal bout with losing my mind over the course of like 6 months. they also had me on risperidone and a whole lot of other stuff. i think some of the chemical cocktails they were making only served to exacerbate the stresses i was under that was causing my grip on reality to crack in the first place. at the end i was essentially locked up for over a month in a medical facility because, like tony, i started to take things apart in my house and believing things like there being cameras behind mirrors and stuff. i empathize with tony on this level so much and i worry for him because i know if i didn't slowly phase my way back into getting a hold of myself and ween off of all of the medications (that, mind you, i didn't have any need for prior to that down period), i think something tragic could have happened. this was all just my personal journey and this was years ago (and i'm not saying medication is inherently bad or anything like that), but seeing tony not really getting any better over the past decade is making me terrified i'm going to open twitter one day and see his name trending for reasons none of us wanted.
I don't think the medications are inherently bad and can in fact do a lot of good. The problem is they prescribe so many so soon. A lot of them take days to weeks to see any effect from but doctors are giving patients multiple new drugs at once so it's hard to know which pill is doing what.
@@BiggieTrismegistusThe only people who say that anti psychotic meds can be good are those who've never been put on them or gone through experience with the mental health industry. It's all bullshit. Look up what those drugs do they are neuro toxic and will neuter any masculine energy in you
@@BiggieTrismegistus the Opiod crisis started due to over-prescription. The mental health industry isn't any better, specially when there is a LOT of debate on how effective most predcribed drugs actually are. A lot of therapy and medication is visibly effective. A lot of it is snake oil or borderline human experimentation.
@@publiusventidiusbassus1232 it wasn't that long ago that we finally really stated that depression is not a physical chemical imbalance of the brain. It's not a receptor deficiency like we had said it was for decades.
I think he's doing just fine and I would love to see him avenge his 6 losses by fighting 6 more times. Like he said after the Diaz fight, "I'm fucking back and ready to fight some more."
That fight with Justin was horrific. The drunken falling over, the waving off of punches, was his brain saying "no more," please. It is heartbreaking to watch him just stumble around, Justin landing shot after crushing shot, and him at one point just pushing Tony around. Duk koo Kim, a boxer, died from head trauma in a fight with Ray Mancini. It was later found by the doctors that he had undergone an extreme weight cut before the fight. This extreme weight cut model the ufc is following is going to be absolutely catastrophic for these fighters later in life. Many of them are already showing slurred speech and symptoms. A lot of them are doomed to end up like Gary Goodridge, who can barely function. Tony will unfortunately most likely succumb to early onset dementia. I hope he gets help and wish nothing but the best for him and all fighters. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
One thing I have to disagree with is that prime Tony could have eaten the Chandler kick. I dont think any lightweight on earth would have taken such a quick flush on the chin without going out cold. Just watch that in slow motion. That kick was so fast and powerful, when I first watched it I didnt even realize what happened. If you blinked once it looked like Tony just fell face first to the ground. That was thrown from the most powerful lightweight, with the most powerful intentions. Tony was out cold for like 5 minutes and cant remember anything until he was in a hospital, so no, I dont think anyone could have eaten that kick. Otherwise good points 😂
I think that kick would have knocked out guys at bigger weightclasses including possibly a few at heavyweight. Chandler's legs are like tree trunks and his foot had a lot of time to build up momentum before impacting someone's jaw.
@@nothingmuch8865 yeah there is a funny short video of Chandler, where he says he wanted to see what happens, but when he wants to see what happens its like "LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!" 😂 He threw that thing full force just to see if it lands, and the rest is history😂 Edit: The clip is called "Michael Chandler remembers every bit of the Tony Ferguson Knock Out", just looked it up. Pretty funny
I know CTE is unfortunately common in combat sports, especially one where you’re allowed to use your knees and elbows to smash a man’s head in, but it feels rare to see an exact downward trend in the brain’s health the way we have with Tony
I think a lot of fighters at least do the bare minimum to prevent CTE, by not basing their defence around blocking punches with their chin. Tony also doesn' seem to take care of his brain post fight, serious repeat concussions require months of rest and no-contact training.
Well, you guessed it, bud. It's Tony vs. Paddy. Perfectly predicted. A golden opportunity given to a legend to see if they can derail the hype train. I, too, give it a 50/50.
It really doesn't come off that surprising that Tony would end up in this state when you look at it as the confluence of several factors, going all the way back to the TUF days. The "Where's your kid at?" drama really does seem, in hindsight, to be pretty revelatory, since, at least with how the show presented it, it all seemed to come out abruptly and for no particular reason. His style of just enduring his opponent's offense and outlasting them in so many fights certainly was only going to make matters worse, but I've always found that his baffling behavior seems to exist independent of any CTE issues. Quite frankly, Tony is an intensely deluded person, who seems to operate at all times in a manner that is highly divorced from reality. Various eccentricities and idiosyncrasies are one thing, but moments like when he got into it with Werdum and seemed to seriously think he could easily throw down with a heavyweight and him seriously believing he's only just coming into his prime make him seem like he seriously believes he's indestructible, and the domestic incidents only make things worse. I don't think a War Machine-esque violent meltdown is too far out of the realm of possibility if things keep going the way they are, but for his sake and especially that of his family, I hope that won't be the case. Regardless of whatever happens in his personal life, I fully expect the UFC to keep booking him for fights until they can wring the last bit of value out of his appeal to fans and how much a win over him can be promoted for an up-and-coming contender.
For a while now I've figured he has schizotypal personality disorder, which would account for his strange behavior. Alcohol and head trauma only exacerbate the problems caused by that disease.
The Werdum situation is highly misinterpreted. Werdum was talking over or interrupting Ferguson, and tonys famous line was, "Hold on, brother, I'm talking" and therefore Werdum instead of apologizing for talking over him or interrupting he ended up just getting Frustrated, so that's on werdum he is always starting fights and assaulting fighters lower weights classes than him, I think he has Short Man Syndrome Big Time.
@@joebird5151 This isn't even remotely true. There is a full, unedited version of the interview that shows what happened. Werdum was just eating and minding his own business while Tony was being interviewed, and Karyn Bryant said something to Werdum from across the table (the video is a 360 pan of the whole table and around it, so this is easy to confirm, and Werdum was just responding her, not loudly or obnoxiously, and then Tony acted like he purposely interrupted him. You can make up your own mind about how he reacted to Tony saying "I'm talking", but Werdum didn't go out of his way to interrupt him, and Tony's actions from there were just asinine.
War Machine didn't really have a "meltdown". He was an explosively violent, sadistic and amoral POS for most of his life, he would've hurt people regardless of MMA or CTE. But yeah, I'm fearful for Tony. The UFC is criminally negligent for allowing him to compete still. He should be under therapy.
@@publiusventidiusbassus1232 By "meltdown", I was specifically referring to the moment where it all boiled over and he raped and tortured his ex-girlfriend that got him sentenced to prison for life. That's the point of no return. Tony doesn't seem to be as volatile and unstable as War Machine, but the level of delusion he persists in is alarming.
I swear to god I mentioned you should do a Tony Ferguson video in a previous comment. This is why you’re my favourite TH-camr, you got a grip on this audience
What people need to realize is Tony Ferguson is extremely mentally unwell, it’s very evident that that is the case. We should be worried about him possibly hurting himself or hurting his family
He took way to much damage in that fight with Justin. Honestly when I heard he cut weight for no reason, I knew it was one of the worst decisions of his career. Also when you see the KO vs Justin, he took them shots and then just stumbled back and looked way out of it. I absolutely agree with what you said about what they just did with Robbie Lawler, that's exactly what they need to do with. If they feed him to a top 10-15 person or a really good up and comer, well Tony is going to get more CTE or sent to the shadow realm. I honestly feel really bad for his wife/family and hopefully he seeks help immediately.
Part of the problem is people encouraging his behavior. He says something that sounds schizophrenic and people laugh and cheer it on. His "fans" are not helping him at all
This is the kind of content I subscribed for man. Great video and analysis on something that I agree a lot of us fans had no idea about myself included.
I love your channel bro the illustrations as an artist I can appreciate and the fact that you talk about everything from iconic Hollywood figures to wrestlers to TH-camrs to MMA fighters. Your range is so perfect and entertaining. And you’re narration is top-notch.
Tony has had mental issues since before he was in the UFC. And his fighting style of receive one to give one definitely didn't make it better. The further we get into his career downfall the more I believe he should have never been fighting in the first place. I would honestly not be surprised if 10 years from now we wake up one day, and read an article that he has killed a person close to him. And if they get to examine his brain they find out he's had severe CTE.
Tony's mental situation is so scary and heartbreaking. I have had some friends unfortunately suffer similar conditions, I can only imagine what his wife has gone through. ❤❤
Props to Biege - excellent analysis imo. I think the effects of weigh cutting are underapprecaited by the majority of fans and even some commentators. Doing it twice is significant. Then getting in with JG who's striking is undeniably concussive is without doubt crazy. The other significant point is the flaws/inconsistency/erratic nature of Ferguson's thinking. This guy is badly detached from reality. And it's sad. Thats nothing new - but your analysis is enlightening. I honestly believe in the not too distant future the current ways of weight cutting will be looked back on as senselessly dangerous.
Given how multiple fighters have died as a result of bad weight cuts, you'd think the MMA community would pay more attention to it, but not really. Weight Cutting is the best performance enhancers, but because it's technically legal people don't care unless it messes up a fight. I.e. Chimaev situations last year.
@@BeigeFrequency I completely agree - and your analysis of Tony's decline really illustrates the point - 2 weight cuts then fighting a concussive striker - all exacerbated by his fighting style, the apparent absence of anyone really giving him honest advice then add in the fact that he was probably due to start a down turn in his career and evidently has a vulnerability to mental illness. I take you point about multiple fighters - but I still think weight cutting isnt given the consideration it should given how dangerous it is in the current set up. And I say all this because I feel for Tony and his family - he's given us years of top entertainment and I fear he isnt't going to get the future he deserves. Excellent video Biege. Though provoking.
With Tony and the two weight cuts, he clearly: 1) Cut weight the first time 2) Stayed within that weight until the next fight, which told his body to retain that size “permanently” 3) Made weight again, but was unable to put back the weight he cut for the initial weight cut. If you look at his size, he’s noticeably smaller for the fight, which hurt him in durability.
I still remember Tony being untouchable. Him vs Khabib was the dream fight everyone wanted to see. My guess is that he's probably going through some mental health issues which he has to take care of first before trying to make another run and win a few more matches.
Tony is a man who is a walking dichotomy, he had an unreal athletic body, that he does not use to it's fullest, unreal ape-index paired with terrible footwork, he can have fantastic mental resilience and determination, on the other hand he has a giant chip on his shoulder, is too proud and spiteful for his own good, I can go on and on... My man also had that hanging chin, was allergic to blocking / parrying strikes, never relented from pain ever, could take shots like few other people could. His body is ruined and soon his mind will be as well, his wife should give Dana a call and have Tony cut for his and his families best, the guy is a multi millionaire he does not have to fight anymore. I've been an el Cucuy fan forever, it's been obvious for a long time that Tony has unresolved mental Issues, you don't go up in the middle of the night and go for runs or keep yourself occupied with training for six hours a day if you are not trying to fight something off. Combine that with a lot of brain trauma, many many weight cuts, periodic drinking problem and you have a receipt for disaster. From what I've heard he has been unstable and hard to work with as well, although that was some time ago and possible related to the drinking. A lot of props goes to Tonys wife Christina to have to deal with all this, Tony can be a very intense and scary dude for sure, CSO Christina! Performing that double cut against Gaethje was so stupid, combine that with the amount of trauma he sustained also... In my opinion he should not be medically cleared anymore and just retire or his two kids won't have a dad much longer. Great video as always my man, although the case of Ferguson is very sad.
YES!! I've said since the beginning that the double weight cut HAD TO take some kind of toll. Just based on my meager experience, even one cut sucks badly, and I never even cut as much as top level fighters in the game routinely do. Now, that's not to say that I think it would've 100% helped Tony win that fight, as Gaethe is a certifiable assassin, but I don't think Tony would be as physically and mentally drained at the opening bell.
I haven't watched the video yet, but yes we should, I'm very worried for Tony. I hate to say it but I fear we could have a family annihiliation or another violent situation on our hands, all aided and abbetted by the UFC. That Gaethje fight was one of the most nightmarish things I've ever seen. One of the major failings of this sport (which has so many to be almost innumerable) is how few safeguards there truly are for athletes. Tony Ferguson produced some of the most entertaining MMA fights in history for the UFC and now the UFC machine is simply squeezing every ounce of name value they can get from his ghost. Sad situation for both Tony and his family, and given the state of mental health care in the US I doubt he'll get the help he needs before it's too late.
We have very good healthcare in the US. We just can't really force someone to seek treatment so that's why it seems like an open air asylum. But the mental health care is available and is quality care.
In life, always blame objects not humans. It's not Tony's fault he wanted to fight, agreed and signed contracts to fight. Took dozens/hundreds of prefight medicals and passed. Knew all the risks to his health since before his first fight. As an adult human seen by dozens of medical professionals and deemed safe to fight - while explaining the risks to Tony better than you can. But. It's not his fault. Right? I know you will say I am wrong, and that's fine. Because you know I am right. I won't even read your response so... :)
Tony's strength was always being so fucking tough that he could be reckless as hell and basically win by overwhelming them. Once he lost his resilience it was over. Gaethje was the tipping point but it was inevitable. EDIT: Got to the second half. Jesus Christ that is more than alarming. This is dangerous. He needs to leave fighting now before he turns into a Benoit. That level of paranoia for someone who fights for a living...
I kind of expect to get made fun of for saying this, but learning about CTE really spoiled my enjoyment of MMA. So many of the old stars act in ways consistent with it, and plenty of them admit to having memory problems. Maybe it's because I'm a dad now, but I just find it hard to see men with families getting smacked in the face and ending up like Gary Goodridge or Spencer Fisher.
It's really strange that MMA has kind of bypassed all of the concerns about CTE that other sports have had to deal with. I think it's a matter of living on borrowed time though, and the sport will eventually have to pay the debt it's been putting of for so long now.
Could be a combo of lowered testosterone plus dad personality. Not trying to insult but if you're a dad you're probably in your 30s so the testosterone ain't like it was when you were a bloodthirsty savage young man. But yea I could see how things like watching fathers killing themselves for the crowd doesn't help when its forefront in your mind.
In the olden days, a warrior who survived into his 30s was sitting in the reserves watching the youngins fight. Now they keep going to the front lines and get blasted on. Anthony Smith is another similar case. In the Jones fight he took so much damage, and now he gets clipped once and he looks like he's about to pass out. His last win is impressive considering
Childhood friend of mine went professional in MMA a record of 10-7 and even that seems to have had an effect on his mental health impulsive behaviour depression never mind what it's like fighting these top guys in the UFC and how much more damage you take
One of the biggest things I hate about the MMA community is their lack of tact and being able to take fighters seriously. They ignore so many things that occur or try to change the narrative to better fit their own satiation for spectacle. Going back to the phone call Tony’s wife made, I have seen so many edits on social media using it in a Tony Ferguson highlight montage and it makes me sick. I’ve seen them do the same thing with Jon Jones and other fighters, and it just blows my mind how stupid this is. They don’t treat this shit seriously, they go on about how fighters are just villains in a story or treat shit like its some sort of fabricated storyline the UFC come up with instead of things that actually happen to real people. So many MMA fans look down on pro wrestling because its fake and they like real shit, but they’re just one side of the same coin. Fans just want storylines, caricatures served up for entertainment, they don’t care about the fighters.
I'm with ya, buddy. It makes me sad that people can separate the fighters as entertainers before they're humans. It seems like celebrities get a similar treatment, albeit in a sort of different way. The stories about Rumble being abusive shouldn't be taken lightly. Tony going off the rails and that call. Jon Jones doing all of the things he's done throughout his career. It's as if people, because of the entertainment factor, can separate real world consequences and the reality of fighters because don't always see them as real people. And if they do, they don't seem to care much.
@@shettywap they treat fighters and combat sports like its a fictional show where you powerscale characters or root for people because of some arbitrary connection, it feels completely disconnected from reality and its insane. Especially with Jon Jones. People treat him like a fictional villain instead of an actual person who has done horrible things in real life that have directly impacted others in negative ways, but I keep seeing people give him a pass because “he’s the GOAT and can do whatever he wants” or “he’s the bad guy don’t get mad” it’s infuriating
Who cares?? These fighters get paid good money to fight and to possibly get the sh*t kicked out of them. It's the price you pay for fame and money in the fight game. These fighters could care less about you so why be a bleeding heart sjw for them? Grow up and face reality. You would trade places in an instant to be in these guys shoes as would many people. I have no sympathy for these rich egotistical people. They're getting what they want and I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way.
Who cares?? These fighters get paid good money to fight and to possibly get the sh*t kicked out of them. It's the price you pay for fame and money in the fight game. These fighters could care less about you so why be a bleeding heart sjw for them? Grow up and face reality. You would trade places in an instant to be in these guys shoes as would many people. I have no sympathy for these rich egotistical people. They're getting what they want and I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way.
Incredible to see how different his and khabibs career turned out, how distant they have become when once they were both considered to be kind of equals, not just in fighting merit and legacy but in overall life
One is a disciplined, devoutly religious man with values & principles, the other a foul mouthed alcoholic with mental health issues.... Not very surprising.
I remember a comment on an older Tony highlight video. It was something like "he's so close to being finished but always comes back and wins. That's why he's my favorite fighter." 😢
Thanks for this video. Whenever I heard talk of Tony's issues it seems to have been downplayed. I didn't know there was a series of these incidents, just the one with the holy water. Tony needs help, and I know he has his own will but everyone including the UFC needs to rally around him to get him the help he needs for his safety and the safety of his family
Tony has some serious personality disorders on board. Honestly he needs an ongoing treatment plan-meds and close monitoring-for the rest of his life. I really, really hope he makes that decision.
This is your most haunting painting to date. But an absolute masterclass in realizing potential for art. I am very sad with not only Tonys decline but his inability to realize he is not the man we once was.
I love Tony as a fan but the Nina Drama interview she took down was scary he was all happy, dancing, laughing and enjoying himself and then on a dime he flipped and turned just strange and she cut it short after he started acting like Nina was out to get him. He needs to be made to retire by the UFC. They can make him get a mental health evaluation before they can offer him another fight, and if he fails the treatment or refuses they can withhold him from fighting until he gets the proper medical attention. This will also make sure Tony doesn't just jump ship to somewhere like Bellator, OneFC or PFL. He acts like a person with true Paranoid Schizophrenia. The Nina Drama interview was when I saw it for myself, it wasn't just the same old strange Tony, this was something else. He went from dancing and smiling to accusing Nina of writing articles that defamed him and that her and the media want him to lose and then he just became abrasive getting that very telling holy than thou F-U attitude toward every question. So he needs to have and evaluation and seek treatment. He will have his fighting license suspended forever if he is found to be suffering from Schizophrenia since you can't fight with that diagnosis in most states. I have a bad feeling any man that does what Tony has done by running and jumping a fence with a kid is a danger to his family and needs to get REAL HELP. But mentally ill people think they are sane and everyone around them is crazy. Normal people don't say the things Tony says and they don't do the things his wife has says he has done. She must love him because most women would have just left and took half already. But Tony needs to be evaluated before someone ends up hurt or worse. But his family won't get him help because it would stop him from working so its a catch 22. If he stops working there is no money but if he gets help he might not do something crazy. Also the prolonged beatings he has taken over the past couple of years are not helping. Beneil Dariush, Justin, and Charles Olivera were really bad beatings for a total of 1 hour of physical head trauma. Most people never withstand more than 5 or 6 minutes of total street fight time fighting in school or in the streets. Tony has taken 10 times that amount most get in a lifetime in the last 3 year and he's now 40 years old. So if he doesn't get help I fear the worst.
@@yeahbuddy300lbs It was up on YT and chopped up parts of it on instagram then it was taken down from YT, and I'm not sure why. Maybe Tony or his management asked her too IDK that is just a guess. But I bet its out there somewhere. I haven't checked instagram for it.
@@yeahbuddy300lbs Nina mentions it in the Sean Strickland interview where they are sitting in a park and she looks like a park ranger or a girl scout. Its one of her latest ones.
Tony has always been a creepy weirdo. Remember his TUF appearance and how unhinged he was overreacting to obvious jokes. He stood out as being absolute unfit to function in society. All memes aside, Tony needed to be on meds and supervision a long time ago
maaaaaan i love tony so much, i hope he will get well somehow. i was fully depressed for 3 years and i happened to watch 'the rise of the boogeyman' and made me cry, it made me change to the better..... we love you cucuy
When i feel depleted....my knees start to shake....i cant imagine pushing it further than that ....i remember i threw up once from running two miles without stopping....but my adrenaline was pumping so it wasn't that bad...but after 6 or 8 hours of sweating and not eating....you just feel awful.
That head kick from Chandler would KO anybody in LW. He exploded viciously and hit him with the ball of the foot right on the button. Only people like Mark Hunt and Marvin Vettori can tank this thing.
I actually don't think the Gathje fight was the downfall itself, but I think it primed him for the downfall. After that fight I thought he was done for. But then he came out against Chandler and actually looked good. He clearly took the first round and was flowing well. Then that kick happened...
This is what people forget. There was hope in that first round and he was almost looking like the old tony. I guess his strategy of taking shots to the head over time just weakened him.
Most casual fight fans are smooth brained and only care about a fighter if they are going to fight or in stupid GOAT talks. You are right to shed light on this. People are easy to forget about terrible events that happen in this scene.
I don't think the Gaethje fight was the reason for Tony's rapid decline. If you watch his fights before that, it's clear that he had slowed down a lot compared to his prime. It's just that he was fighting guys like Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis, and Donald Cerrone so people didn't really notice. But compare how he fast and dynamic he looked against Barboza vs how he looked against Pettis or Cerrone.
Tony’s my favourite fighter of all time, by far. That Gaethe fight was one of the hardest fights to watch, the beating was bad enough but without the crowd hearing every single crack and seeing Tony come forward I felt like Duke in Rocky IV seeing Apollo get massacred. His decline since has been so noticeable and I think it’s on Dana to cut him like he did Chuck, there’s nothing left to prove. My worry is Tony will probably go do something like BKFC and there’s not a promoter in the world who wouldn’t take him because they’re all leeches looking to squeeze every last drop out of these guys until they drop. Tony is a case study waiting to happen and I seriously worry for his life, the brain isn’t made to withstand the damage Tony’s has.
It’s a disgrace that the UFC hasn’t cut him. He’s losing handily to low level fighters now. I disagree with what you said about McGregor. I think even if McGregor has slacking off and doing drugs for the last 2 years he’d still run through Tony in one round. Paddy, as bad as he is, would knock Tony out within the first 2 minutes. I don’t think Tony would beat a single lightweight in the UFC. I think every ranked featherweight would beat him, and probably many ranked bantamweights as well. Maybe I’m overestimating how washed he is, but only time will tell how much of a drop in competition it will take for him to get a win, but I don’t think it’ll be in the UFC. They’ll have to cut him after he loses one more, surely.
I don’t really care for MMA but you’re probably one of my favorite creators- I always save your videos to put on in the background when I have a good time to game/ clean. In fact I’m not gonna watch tonight, because I’m going to bed soon. Sometimes I find a video of yours I meant to watch weeks ago in my saved later playlist and it feels like god is rewarding me for being forgetful by giving me a little treat
Interesting take , as always, but from what I can remember; it was more a case of Oliveira being merciful, by ‘choosing ‘not to go for any more submission attempts on Tony rather than, not being able to manage it. Charles already attempted an armbar and Tony refused to tap. Charles explained as much in the post-fight press conference. He could of put Tony out of commission for months , even years with a broken arm and you’d have no “decline “ to make a video about.
We should be worried about his family. It’s all jokes until it’s a Chris Benoit story
Here comes the United States...I mean the UFC Interim Lightweight Champion - Tony Ferguson
Tony has never showed any signs or willingness to hurt either his wife or kids, he gets paranoid and intense as fuck but there are no reports or statements of him ever being violent if that's what you meant.
His wife is a fucking saint though, true love right there.
@@QenaitheCustodianGuard That might change if he comes to believe his wife is not his wife anymore. He accused her of being a witch and doused her in holy water. Just because he hasn't been violent towards her yet doesn't mean he never will be. He seems like a good person who cares about his family and it seems like his delusions centre around that too, protecting his child specifically. But if he believes that his wife is an impostor intent on harming his child for example, in his mind violence may seem like a logical response. Our reality and his don't align in those moments and this could all end in tragedy. I fear for his safety and the safety of those he loves.
@QenaitheCustodianGuard dog that is straight up untrue. Tony's wife (a fucking Saint, no lie) has called the cops on him because he was actively endangering his child and her. His erratic paranoid behavior is a HUGE danger to his children especially when his wife is telling the cops that he is throwing holy water at her and tearing up her home. You don't file MULTIPLE restraining orders unless they are a danger to the rest of your family. He destroyed their home and forced his wife to live with her parents before nearly KIDNAPPING his son
@@QenaitheCustodianGuard Chris Benoit showed no signs either. Everybody who knew him said his family was the most important thing to him. And look what happend.
Tony ferguson the type of guy to make me very worried
For real!
Tony's the type of guy to unplug the refrigerator and half the house's electricity because he thinks there's recording devices in it.
This scares this shit out of me .I used to hallucinate alot as a child and I thought my mother was a witch on multiple occasions like Tony. I once hallucinated an earthquake and saw my house fall apart I crawled under my bed and found a hatch I crawled inside and was getting humiliated by a towel/ blanket. I spoke to it threw my mind for hours as it bullied me ripping apart and giving me the deepest feeling of dread imaginable. I woke up in bed, and for months I thought the world was fake and it had been replaced. I can only imagine what Tony’s going threw.
@@jimmynesbit1803 so sorry to hear that, buddy. Hope you're doing better now a days.
@@1994mrmysteryman I’m fine these days thanks for asking it’s weird because I don’t remember everything but I vividly remember a few hallucinations like the hatch and I can remember my vision slowly sliding down my body and off the bed falling into blackness with a floating sensation and having conversations with multiple people. It’s hard to describe I didn’t hear the voices and it wasn’t in any language but I could understand everything at the time and see faces ,it felt like hours. It always felt like they where evaluating my character and I was ashamed of who I was and my family so embarrassed I felt like chest was going to explode trying to prove myself to these beings And sometimes I’d snap out and be half conscious while the hallucinations where still there and it was scary af.
"At 35, I feel like I'm just entering my prime, which is crazy." Yes, yes it is.
“Imma be real wit you guys….” Proceeds to spew an endless stream of blithering nonsense with no basis in reality.
@@DanAddisonshut up he’s entering his prime
35 is peak physical age
@@aaronsavage8018😂not at light weight mma… he is 3 years into his decline
Tony is 39
I remember how Jack Slack described Tony in his prime, “he doesn’t so much cook people with pressure as much as he drags them into the fire with him.” He was always such an inspiration for the human sacrifices he’d make in the octagon, taking huge damage to himself as he submerged people in violence. It’s genuinely heartbreaking to see this unbreakable man keep throwing himself into that fire, trading brain cells for money
Crazy and unfathomable to us, but fighters, for the most part, love being in there.
Slackys takes on tony have always been spot on
It says something about his character that even in deep psychosis he did not act violently to his wife
@@AndrewOzolins People with psychosis usually aren’t violent, statistically they’re only slightly more likely than the average population to commit violent acts. But with that said, most people with psychosis aren’t professional fighters, they aren’t riddled with CTE and they don’t have a drinking problem… Tony’s entire life leading up to this point has been a ticking time bomb. I cannot imagine a scenario where there’s any happy ending for him after his career is over.
poetic in phrasing Joe!
It’s horrifying to think that his psychological episode happened PRIOR to the Gaethje fight. 😳😱
Yeah... that not a good sign at all.
@@BeigeFrequencyBeige, Please respond. Tony vs. Paddy just got announced. You damn near predicted it.
@@BeigeFrequencyRespond daddy Beige
Well, when your defense in a fight is to block strikes with your head it's bound to happen
@@floatinggoose9197very cringe. Please respond. Please
Yes. A guy with schizophrenia, CTE, and now drinking can’t end well.
My dad had all of those and I turned out fine. Lol jks I'm a turbo neet
@Tonysopranoyafinookor gets help not just off himself
He's legitimately a danger to society and should be locked up. Fuck that guy
We will see at the momemt it really does not look well for Sir Ferguson he needs help and should Not Fight anymore 2-3 fights ago
@Tonysopranoyafinook off yourself immediately. You’re worthless laughable pathetic excuse for a human being. No one likes you, you will never be loved.
Gathje vs Tony in that dead quiet arena reminded me of Batman Vs Bane. The amount of head trauma Tony received in that fight was insane. Tony had years taken off not only his career but his life that night.
The sound is necessary. That was a cool time it's a shame the arenas aren't always so quiet.
Batman vs Bane 1, not the rematch though
Tony went from Batman to Filthy Frank 😔
When he was shaking his dead trying to get his shit straight was scary and sad glad herb stopped the fight
I saw that one. First time I felt bad, genuinely bad watching a fight. I know it's just a part of being an mma fan but that felt worse.
I remember reading about his psychotic episodes back around the time that the “moon flood” happened and thinking that the UFC should have assisted in his retirement then. It’s pretty disturbing that they’ve allowed him to continue, especially considering the punishment he’s taken. I can’t fathom the horror his wife/family have been through. Imagine waking to your spouse standing over you in a dark room and they start accusing you in all seriousness of being a witch or talking to you like you’re a stranger.
Yea I've done that, psychosis is no joke
He should be put in a ward
They owe him fights due to his contract. They are awful but they have to give him a changed to make a living
That’s a last resort solution. There are several steps to take before you put someone in a psych ward. I had a friend go to one recently and she was in it for a week. No alcohol. Been 2 years, she hasn’t drank since. It also cost 14 gs too 😐😅
@@lowlowseeseethey could buy him out of his contract. But they’d rather see his life in shambles and squeeze every once of fame he has left and feed him to some up and comer for a huge KO
I just pray nothing terrible happens. I think Tony is a good human being, but CTE + alcoholism + literal paranoid schizophrenia is a hell of a combination. I just hope he gets the help he needs and enjoys a healthy life outside the octagon.
Because he absolutely has the potential of being UFC’s Chris Benoit.
Well said.
Amen to that.
Yea I think you're right that's why it's so sad.
He's a great guy but he's losing it. And things like this don't usually get better they get worse.
And I feel like he's gonna keep fighting.
If he really has cte or any brain problems then shame on the medical professionals for letting him fight.
What a fucked up thing to say
6:38 just wanted to add that Charles Oliveira said in an interview or something after the fight (it's been so long but maybe you can find it) where he said after Tony didn't submit to the armbar in round 1, he didn't want to go for more submissions because he knew he would permanently hurt Tony because he just wouldn't tap (at the time). Charles really respects Tony, I mean he copied the hair, glasses, and he even did Tony's "WOO!" at his weigh in once.
I don’t know how relevant my comment will be, but I also clearly remember Olivera being super respectful and offering Tony to come to Brazil to train together. And Tony did not respond in a good way lol - the signs have been here for a while , I remember mentioning some of these problems back in 2019 but nobody gives a F until it’s too late
@ThePlaylist99 Your comment is very relevant. I remember that too. The Brazilian guys are actually cool af and will invite people to train all the time. Tony should have went.
@@ThePlaylist99I think he’s an independent guy and doesn’t like it when someone offers help or even praises him as he sees it as disrespect. I mean remember in the khabib press conference where the reporter praised him for pushing through his mental health struggles and Tony was pissed and said f you to the guy
@@pavasite4278 could be. I interpreted it as him being somewhat in denial and getting annoyed that his mental health issue was even brought up
@@ThePlaylist99 He insisted he was such a super star that he had to wear sunglasses inside It was 2018 when he tanked his career and I have been worried about him since. So, I am 1 year better than you.
Also, I believe there's something to be said about the role us fans have in this. For years we admired Tony for being able to withstand inhuman amounts of punishment. And not only him, we constantly hype up fighters that can take a punch and go on. There's nothing wrong with being tough, but guys like Tony get to a point where they're too tough for their own good, and we cheer that on. Mma is a violent sport that's just the nature of the beast, but having fighters that receive tons of damage in this weird pedestal may give them an incentive to be more reckless and that shit's not healthy at all.
There is something genuinely impressive about Tony's resilience and seeming immunity to pain. I don't know if he was lying but it's crazy that he withstood the Oliveira armbar and the leglock from Dariush without sustaining any major injury. Watching those, I was sure his joints were shredded. Also the timetable he healed his knee after the wire incident didn't make any sense.
I think Tony isn't just too tough for his own good, he's a victim of his own reputation.
They are grown men. Real men. They know the price to their health nowadays more than ever. With that said I definitely understand what you are putting down. @@BeigeFrequency
@@stephenschenider4007I really don’t think they do know the price.
Tony’s mental illness preceded his pro-career. I’m most disappointed in the organization. It has the resources to take care of a fighter who’s clearly lost his mind and has a record of dangerous psychotic episodes. It’s wringing him out like a rag.
Doctor's stoppages and TKO's should be more accepted. If fighters can't intelligently defend themselves, there's no point allowing the "fight" to continue, it's not a fight anymore, just a beatdown
Love Tony, but yeah that Gaethje fight was far more than a beating. Justin took his soul. The sound of those punches landing is haunting.
Made all the more horrifying by the empty lockdown arena.
@cisternrumblings MY THOUGHTS EXACTLY!! The sound of em was just surreal watching live
And to think that those sounds are always occurring, just drowned out by the crowds.
try bare knuckle
@@NatureBoy420you get more cut up and localized swelling with bare knuckles, but you cannot hit as hard, which means it's easier to get brain injuries with gloves on. Bare knuckles MMA would arguably be better for fighters' long term health.
Tony is a prime example of why I have a hate/love with boxing and MMA.
I mean, seriously what do you expect to happen when a man loves to fight, gets paid to fight, and gets millions of adoring fans when you fight?
How do you transition to normal life?
The game itself treats you horrendously. When you win, you’re a god, when you loose your treated like shit.
Combined with just getting into the game you already have to reject most everyone telling you you can’t make it.
So, even when you should retire who can you listen to / trust.
It’s rough.
I feel like in boxing there has been a bit of a change in recent times. Guys like Danny Garcia, Victor Ortiz, Leo Santa Cruz, Omar Figueroa Jr, Mikey Garica, Jose Ramirez, to name a few Americans, all of them started fighting less and less frequently and it seems like walking away from the sport was somewhat easier for them.
Some walked away early, some are chasing that one last fight but others were forced out over the years. All of them in good health and with some wealth. Its probably a lot easier to turn to normal life when you fight just once a year.
Well said man, it’s ok to enjoy combat sports but have the necessary dialogue about the complicated nature of all of it
💯 Great empathy. Good thoughts
Probably listen to your wife
@@jimbotheimpaler4756 Yeah wife is a good start.
My heart really goes out to Tony and his family.
Watching a loved ones mental decline is heartbreaking.
My mum had early onset dementia and passed away during Covid. Over 6 years we all saw the decline in her faculties, and watch her personality change, coupled with explosive delusional outbursts that slowly became more frequent. There were instances where she wouldn't recognize any of her family, thinking she had been kidnapped, bashing on the windows and doors trying to escape. One time she ran out of the house and onto the road, flagging down a car, telling the driver she was being held hostage. She would also be very suspicious of food that was prepared for her, thinking that it had been poisoned, or make cryptic remarks, like refusing to drink a cup of tea I made for her because it was, "too dark".
Mental illness is such a heavy burden and I feel for anybody going through it, or has a loved one struggling with it.
My heart breaks for Tony and his family, I know how hard this must be for all of them, and I truly hope he gets the help he needs.
Horrifying
What’s your opinion on Jon jones?
@@damnitbobby4383- nobody will speak of that as he is still a big money maker. They won’t tarnish their goats name. How many people even mention the steroids and hide behind it being small amounts, even though he hid under a ring for 12 hours (allegedly), or his brother got suspended for the same? They pick and choose whose name they drag through the mud.
One of my extremely good friends took a glancing bullet to his to his head when we were in Afghanistan. Initially he was doing well, was making good progress in physical rehabilitation, his personality was pretty similar, but he was more subdued. We all thought it was just him focusing on getting himself back to where he was before he got zapped in the head. After awhile, we all realized it wasn’t. He had TBI, and was actually pretty dangerous to be around. He was having mental breaks multiple times a week, his temper went off the charts, and his behavior went completely off the rails. Brain damage is a horribly scary thing.
That is because our brain is far more than just our processor. It is where evrything about us resides. We often like to glorify and mystify our values, characteristics and corresponding attributes as some kharmic mumbo-jumbo. Thinking of these things as pieces of our "soul". But everybody, who deals with brain injuries and dementia, knows that this is a bunch of nonsense.
All these things, that we take for spiritually granted, are anchored and rooted in our flesh. But of course, it is hard to see any romance in that.
@@MightyJabroniwow holy shit finally someone speaking some actual truth about this topic, massive props to you sir
@@MightyJabroni this isn't true at all. You'll find with people with brain damage their underlying personality is still there but the inhibitions are often gone, the limiting factor. So you'll have outbursts of what has always existed in them but they're suddenly way less able to control it. I've been around multiple people with these issues so I know it first hand.
Even people with sever dementia, they won't know the name of their relativr but they will understand they have a deep emotional connection to them. So their brain is screwed but another element of them is connected to their relative.
@@jamesfranko5098 A ruin may still resemble the house that it once was (because what else should it resemble). But it is a ruin nonetheless.
Of course, the brain and the habitual patterns, biographical knowledge etc. will not go from hundred to zero in a very short space of time (unless major sudden trauma occurs). But add enough trauma over time or otherwise degenerative processes and all bets are increasingly off.
The smidgens of "underlying personality" become more episodic and what comes in their place can be highly erratic and volatile.
"..... the inhibitions are often gone, the limiting factor. So you'll have outbursts of what has always existed in them but they're suddenly way less able to control it."
But how does that point towards a fundamentally unchanged "underlying personality"? We all clench our fists in our pocket and grind our teeth, from time to time. And we all may experience episodes of being emotional or angry against our better judgement.
These things are so intrinsically human that they are part of almost everyone's personality. They are exactly the kinds of cylinders that you would expect to fire, when the great degenerative brain randomizer does it's rotten thing.
@@jamesfranko5098 nope, drugs, incisions, electricity, kinetic energy, force, magnetism, pressure all alter the brain activity and thus who you are and the course of your life because of the domino effect, and it's roll the dice on what happens too all those neurons and connections in there are permanently altered by these things, it's commonly understood in science fields that study behavior and it's relation to the brain that the brain provably is far more sensitive and subject to so many factors than what the majority of the population thinks, if you zap the limbic system, or the places in the brain associated with behavior, the person changes it's as simple as that, i don't think you know what you talking about fam
I had a small idea of his mental health history. I had no clue about all the details. Hope Tony gets the help he needs. Hope this is a wake up call to all fighters too that consider themselves “warriors” similar to Tony. Honestly praying for my guy, he needs all support possible
There is no help for him, unfortunately. His brain is permanently gunk because all of you idiots need your violence boner.
We've been saying Tony's eggs are scrambled for years now, even before the Justin fight... but Justin broke loose his brain stem and turned him into a full-blown tragedy.
Arguably he was already slowing down against Cerrone and Pettis.
Yeah, that's an interesting point. In retrospect, 2019 Donald Cerrone isn't exactly a blue chip victory
While Cowboy "probably" loses that fight anyways, interesting to think how it would've played out if he hadn't blown up his own face clearing his nostril
@@matthewhall1467 that was a strange oversight from Cerrone. I think he just did it without thinking and had an oh shit moment later when his face ballooned up.
Incredibly sad to see how far his career has fallen. I do believe he would have lost to Khabib, but the thought of them matching up in their prime was so enticing. Shame to see how he has spiraled which was brilliantly detailed in this video. Excellent work, Beige!
I’m a brain health scientist and honestly one of the greatest tragedies in sports right now is the fact that Ferguson is still fighting despite all of this.
Sure you are....
What are some of the worrying signs that you see? I heard one sign of CTE is slurred speech and so far Tony has expressed himself pretty well
@@MrBeetsGaminglmfao
@@yeahbuddy300lbsIt’s also delusions and sporadic behavior, which he embodies heavily
@@caesaramericanus1769 so one can have CTE and be perfectly eloquent ? That’s hard to believe
I haven't even watched this yet but i'm already going to say- YES.
I think Tony seems to have some emotional trauma, which he has been able to circumvent and even use to his advantage in becoming extremely mentally tough.... but, i think he has gone way too far with that and the reason he can't/ won't stop is because he will probably have a huge breakdown when he does, and it might be too much to bare tbh, when you've built this persona of being the ultimate tough guy....
It's way past worrying, our guy has already fallen. It's only a question of how much he gets ground into the dirt before people are done with him.
Unfortunately, Tony is the type of guy you can't make do anything. IMHO the tipping point was the last Khabib matchup. Showing up to fight Pettis the same night he was scheduled to fight Khabib was entirely to prove a point. He got away with it that time, but in hindsight it seems to be when he started getting desperate. Tearing a ligament from tripping is not normal, his physical decline has begun. No one wanted to see it because we love him for exactly that kind of attitude.
It took a bit to catch up in his fights, but the dude was trying to WILL himself to be ok when he wasn't and that's not how it works. He's spent so much of his life willing himself through shit, there's no reason to expect he'll change that approach for his mental health.
Bro great point regarding the ligament tear. That always seemed odd to me that something so innocuous did so much damage.
I was listening to Around the Fur a lot while making this, so consider that the unofficial sound track to this video.
Don't tell us what to do!
I went to high school with Tony. He was a few grades ahead of me but was always nice and seemed like a good guy. Haven't spoke with him since the early 2000s. I really hope he realizes he needs help and gets it.
Was he popular in school? He was a star athlete I heard
@@codymathes4450most likely Tony was like the class clown, or the popular guy in class that was making the jokes all the time and talked to everyone
@11:58 The thing where he bought a life raft & drove his family all the way to the desert because he thought the entire state was going to flood out of nowhere was completely nuts. Holy sh1t. I can see why his wife put a restraining order on him. I'm sure it's hard for both of them.
And to think that happened before the Gaethje fight and the Chandler ko makes it even scarier. He's is taking tons of damage to an already damaged brain.
Thank you for bringing up the second weight cut! I've always worried that had a big impact on his downfall.
It's one of those things that goes overlooked but if you think about it, tony severely dehydrated himself for no fucking reason. And then due to the time constraints was probably not able to properly recover. Then fucking did it again. In that regard, it's unsurprising to me that the Gaethje fight was the one that broke him.
i always tell everyone about the double weight cut and they’re either surprised or don’t believe me.
@@rocchi5706 I remember when I first learn about Tony double weight cut I was looking it up and I saw an old Twitter post of Tony showing his second weight cut. A lot of his fans were cheering him on before the Gaethje fight
Look at Chris eubank jnr done the same double weight cut got kod in 4 rounds looked terrible I was thinking of tony when I seen how bad he looked
I fear that the end of Tony Ferguson’s story will be one of great tragedy. Knowing the kind of guy he really is, I think the end of his career will be the darkest period of his life that I think has the potential to break him, seeing as fighting and being a fighter is his life and identity, and losing that would be devastating for him. We’ve seen many fighters fight for too long, or spiral out of control. I wouldn’t be surprised if Tony has it the worst out of them all. The damage that he has taken will impair his quality of life, and it is all but guaranteed he has CTE. Given the pattern of reckless and deeply concerning behavior, he might end up in trouble later on as a result. We have seen athletes from other sports where concussions and head trauma is a regular occurrence commit horrible crimes and actions because of their CTE and the confounding factors that exacerbate their conditions. And I hope my fears for him nevAr come true and that he lives a long, happy, fulfilled life, but the signs of this ending in tragedy must not be ignored
@Tonysopranoyafinook Tony is still Tony, its just his body is completely broken down and his already existing problems with mental health have become worse and will get worse because of the damage he has taken and his identity and passion now being out of reach. There is no former Tony, this is the real Tony and where he is at in life right now, and comparing Tony to someone who has Alzheimer’s is pretty stupid. He’s suffering from erratic/manic behavior because of a long list of negative factors affecting his mental health and talking about him like he’s some mindless zombie is tonedeaf and not based in reality
@Tonysopranoyafinookcringe cliche. he's still tony just past his prime
Is there even a remedy for CTE? Brain-mush doesn't scream treatable to me
@@joakimsen87 sadly there is no cure as of right now, and i highly doubt there ever will be in our lifetimes.
@@bronmill33 I'm sorry, but you're vastly downplaying how serious Tony's current state is.
For example, Benoit was described after his autopsy of having the same brain as that of an 80 year old with severe and advanced Alzheimers, weeks before people said he was fine just acting weird. And that was from pro wrestling, not actual combat. And Tony is one of the fighters with the most accumulated damage.
I honestly fear for Tony.
I actually shed a tear during the Justin fight, it was like seeing your favorite superhero die in front of you
Adult reality was hard for you to handle.
I felt like I was Mayhew Mcconaughey in interstellar just yelling at the TV noooooo 😢
Crazy how now they just announced he's fighting paddy pimblett after you mentioned it lol
lmao AND HE WON
He lost 😬
I was a hardcore Tony fan even after the Gaethje Loss and continued being one after the oliviera fight. The fight with Nate seemed like it would've been the ideal farewell fight and an alarming wake up call.
All the fighters that cut weight that i've heard talk about Tony specifically cutting weight twice said there is no way that didn't hurt him, it may have been the reason he wasn't able to absorb the damage in the Gaethje fight like he had in other fights. I know he has been hit by kicks that are harder than Justin's punches, certainly not as many though. Either way post Gaethje and pre Gaethje is real for Tony.
Recently Gilbert Burns beat Masvidal at UFC287 then fought Belal Muhammed a month later. I was obvious that Burns was hurt by two weight cuts in a month. I'm not say he would he beat Belal without it, but he almost certainly wouldn't have looked so sluggish and tired at 288.
Weight cuts too closely together are no joke.
His shenanigans were amusing when he looked invincible. Now they the whole situation even more worrisome.
Great username
I've always been worried about Tony.. but after the fight with Justin I've been extremely worried that one day I'm going to log on to Twitter and see that Tony pulled a Chris Benoit and self deleted himself and his family. I think fighting is all that man knows and once that's taken away from him he's going to spiral. I know Tony should retire but when he makes comments like "I'm not retiring yet" I feel some sort of relief because at least he's still got fighting to keep him somewhat sane for now.
You're trying to manifest Tony's Demise into existence that's pretty sad of you man
11:47 ok he was wrong about the Great flood but the facts are he's a great father he was already prepared for such a scenario he was proactive in his reactions and you're just here wishing bad things on him because he made a misguided decision the great flood was going to happen
Show some respect for arguably the greatest lightweight fighter that ever lived
Bro they actually matched Tony Vs Pimblett....
Tony is a ticking time bomb. I can’t think about him without worrying about his wife and kids. He has serious mental health problems, CTE out the ass and a drinking problem. Sadly I think the only thing keeping him from going over the edge is fighting, when fighting is no longer an option I’m afraid he’s gonna go completely off the rails.
I legit almost cried watching Tonv y Justin. It’s like watching a distant relative or friend get brutalised. I love this sport but scenes like that hurt me heart.
He don’t know you lil bro
@@TheBeigeRaider I know him 😔😔😔
@@TheBeigeRaiderDumb comment, he never even implied Tony “knows him.”
I still vividly remember the next day at work looking around like man no one knows what happened to my boy Tony last night
@@RickTheBoss98got me into a mini depression for like a week. Lockdown didn’t help but it fucked me up good.
My kids mom is bipolar with schizo effective disorder and bpd..I wish the best for tony and his family..unless you’ve actually been the main person somebody that sick is connected to..it’s impossible to imagine how fucked up it is
Its fucked up when someones delusions involve you
I've figured Ferguson has schizotypal personality disorder
I'm schizoeffective bipolar and it's always super embarrassing when you look back at all the stupid shit you've done. It makes it hard to even live
@@jarrettlowery2802You’re possessed by evil spirits you should get an exorcism no joke
@@jarrettlowery2802i had a very similar eclipse meltdown and it freaked me out when Beige gave the details.
I don't know how shared delusion works but its eerie.
I was telling my whole family the moon was going to fall out of the sky and cause tidal waves.
I wish i knew how 2 people would independently start ranting in the same way. I don't like it..
I can just picture him hopping fences in the rain with a kid in his arms. “Blades and shades baby”
Honestly, I think this was just bound to happen. Ferguson was and still is an absolute animal but there's only so far blocking with your face and sheer toughness can get you in high level combat sports. I think what we really saw against Gaethje was his style being exposed. Justin held his ground, landed his shots, circled out and kept calm.
I think the Tony that schooled RDA beats Gaethje. By the time he fought Cowboy, it was clear that he was slowing down.
Been thinking about this since his first health scare. Glad you made a video about it. I hope he finds a way to transition to a stable and fulfilling life outside of fighting. It’s a brutal transition for nearly every fighter but Tony deserves a strong support system to help him get through it.
This man is a few variables away from ending lives. Not something to be ignored.
some years back i had my own personal bout with losing my mind over the course of like 6 months. they also had me on risperidone and a whole lot of other stuff. i think some of the chemical cocktails they were making only served to exacerbate the stresses i was under that was causing my grip on reality to crack in the first place. at the end i was essentially locked up for over a month in a medical facility because, like tony, i started to take things apart in my house and believing things like there being cameras behind mirrors and stuff. i empathize with tony on this level so much and i worry for him because i know if i didn't slowly phase my way back into getting a hold of myself and ween off of all of the medications (that, mind you, i didn't have any need for prior to that down period), i think something tragic could have happened. this was all just my personal journey and this was years ago (and i'm not saying medication is inherently bad or anything like that), but seeing tony not really getting any better over the past decade is making me terrified i'm going to open twitter one day and see his name trending for reasons none of us wanted.
I don't think the medications are inherently bad and can in fact do a lot of good. The problem is they prescribe so many so soon. A lot of them take days to weeks to see any effect from but doctors are giving patients multiple new drugs at once so it's hard to know which pill is doing what.
@@BiggieTrismegistusThe only people who say that anti psychotic meds can be good are those who've never been put on them or gone through experience with the mental health industry. It's all bullshit. Look up what those drugs do they are neuro toxic and will neuter any masculine energy in you
@@BiggieTrismegistus the Opiod crisis started due to over-prescription. The mental health industry isn't any better, specially when there is a LOT of debate on how effective most predcribed drugs actually are.
A lot of therapy and medication is visibly effective. A lot of it is snake oil or borderline human experimentation.
@@publiusventidiusbassus1232 it wasn't that long ago that we finally really stated that depression is not a physical chemical imbalance of the brain. It's not a receptor deficiency like we had said it was for decades.
I think he's doing just fine and I would love to see him avenge his 6 losses by fighting 6 more times. Like he said after the Diaz fight, "I'm fucking back and ready to fight some more."
5 wins and a title fight baby 😎
@@yeahbuddy300lbs Goddamn right along with some tiramisu and brain pills on the side.
That fight with Justin was horrific. The drunken falling over, the waving off of punches, was his brain saying "no more," please. It is heartbreaking to watch him just stumble around, Justin landing shot after crushing shot, and him at one point just pushing Tony around. Duk koo Kim, a boxer, died from head trauma in a fight with Ray Mancini. It was later found by the doctors that he had undergone an extreme weight cut before the fight. This extreme weight cut model the ufc is following is going to be absolutely catastrophic for these fighters later in life. Many of them are already showing slurred speech and symptoms. A lot of them are doomed to end up like Gary Goodridge, who can barely function. Tony will unfortunately most likely succumb to early onset dementia. I hope he gets help and wish nothing but the best for him and all fighters. I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy.
7:30 Foreshadowing
One thing I have to disagree with is that prime Tony could have eaten the Chandler kick. I dont think any lightweight on earth would have taken such a quick flush on the chin without going out cold. Just watch that in slow motion. That kick was so fast and powerful, when I first watched it I didnt even realize what happened. If you blinked once it looked like Tony just fell face first to the ground. That was thrown from the most powerful lightweight, with the most powerful intentions. Tony was out cold for like 5 minutes and cant remember anything until he was in a hospital, so no, I dont think anyone could have eaten that kick.
Otherwise good points 😂
No man alive would of taken it
I think that kick would have knocked out guys at bigger weightclasses including possibly a few at heavyweight. Chandler's legs are like tree trunks and his foot had a lot of time to build up momentum before impacting someone's jaw.
Chandler said that the front kick was simply a range finder that landed.
@@nothingmuch8865 yeah there is a funny short video of Chandler, where he says he wanted to see what happens, but when he wants to see what happens its like "LETS SEE WHAT HAPPENS!!!" 😂 He threw that thing full force just to see if it lands, and the rest is history😂
Edit: The clip is called "Michael Chandler remembers every bit of the Tony Ferguson Knock Out", just looked it up. Pretty funny
@OoLiiMiiT3D Now I will, thank you brother!
I know CTE is unfortunately common in combat sports, especially one where you’re allowed to use your knees and elbows to smash a man’s head in, but it feels rare to see an exact downward trend in the brain’s health the way we have with Tony
I think a lot of fighters at least do the bare minimum to prevent CTE, by not basing their defence around blocking punches with their chin. Tony also doesn' seem to take care of his brain post fight, serious repeat concussions require months of rest and no-contact training.
Tony already had a mental illness before the ultimate fighter
I'm not Italian, and don't know anyone in Italy.
Here after they matched Tony up with Paddy Pimblett…. Fuck my life
Well, you guessed it, bud. It's Tony vs. Paddy. Perfectly predicted. A golden opportunity given to a legend to see if they can derail the hype train. I, too, give it a 50/50.
terrible match up
It really doesn't come off that surprising that Tony would end up in this state when you look at it as the confluence of several factors, going all the way back to the TUF days. The "Where's your kid at?" drama really does seem, in hindsight, to be pretty revelatory, since, at least with how the show presented it, it all seemed to come out abruptly and for no particular reason. His style of just enduring his opponent's offense and outlasting them in so many fights certainly was only going to make matters worse, but I've always found that his baffling behavior seems to exist independent of any CTE issues. Quite frankly, Tony is an intensely deluded person, who seems to operate at all times in a manner that is highly divorced from reality. Various eccentricities and idiosyncrasies are one thing, but moments like when he got into it with Werdum and seemed to seriously think he could easily throw down with a heavyweight and him seriously believing he's only just coming into his prime make him seem like he seriously believes he's indestructible, and the domestic incidents only make things worse. I don't think a War Machine-esque violent meltdown is too far out of the realm of possibility if things keep going the way they are, but for his sake and especially that of his family, I hope that won't be the case. Regardless of whatever happens in his personal life, I fully expect the UFC to keep booking him for fights until they can wring the last bit of value out of his appeal to fans and how much a win over him can be promoted for an up-and-coming contender.
For a while now I've figured he has schizotypal personality disorder, which would account for his strange behavior. Alcohol and head trauma only exacerbate the problems caused by that disease.
The Werdum situation is highly misinterpreted. Werdum was talking over or interrupting Ferguson, and tonys famous line was, "Hold on, brother, I'm talking" and therefore Werdum instead of apologizing for talking over him or interrupting he ended up just getting Frustrated, so that's on werdum he is always starting fights and assaulting fighters lower weights classes than him, I think he has Short Man Syndrome Big Time.
@@joebird5151 This isn't even remotely true. There is a full, unedited version of the interview that shows what happened. Werdum was just eating and minding his own business while Tony was being interviewed, and Karyn Bryant said something to Werdum from across the table (the video is a 360 pan of the whole table and around it, so this is easy to confirm, and Werdum was just responding her, not loudly or obnoxiously, and then Tony acted like he purposely interrupted him. You can make up your own mind about how he reacted to Tony saying "I'm talking", but Werdum didn't go out of his way to interrupt him, and Tony's actions from there were just asinine.
War Machine didn't really have a "meltdown". He was an explosively violent, sadistic and amoral POS for most of his life, he would've hurt people regardless of MMA or CTE. But yeah, I'm fearful for Tony. The UFC is criminally negligent for allowing him to compete still. He should be under therapy.
@@publiusventidiusbassus1232 By "meltdown", I was specifically referring to the moment where it all boiled over and he raped and tortured his ex-girlfriend that got him sentenced to prison for life. That's the point of no return. Tony doesn't seem to be as volatile and unstable as War Machine, but the level of delusion he persists in is alarming.
I swear to god I mentioned you should do a Tony Ferguson video in a previous comment. This is why you’re my favourite TH-camr, you got a grip on this audience
He made this video specifically for you.
'El Cucuy' died in the cage against Garth
fucking garth
What people need to realize is Tony Ferguson is extremely mentally unwell, it’s very evident that that is the case. We should be worried about him possibly hurting himself or hurting his family
He took way to much damage in that fight with Justin. Honestly when I heard he cut weight for no reason, I knew it was one of the worst decisions of his career. Also when you see the KO vs Justin, he took them shots and then just stumbled back and looked way out of it. I absolutely agree with what you said about what they just did with Robbie Lawler, that's exactly what they need to do with. If they feed him to a top 10-15 person or a really good up and comer, well Tony is going to get more CTE or sent to the shadow realm. I honestly feel really bad for his wife/family and hopefully he seeks help immediately.
All this incidents in the video were way befofe that incident with Justin though. His head is probably holding together with scotch tape.
Part of the problem is people encouraging his behavior. He says something that sounds schizophrenic and people laugh and cheer it on. His "fans" are not helping him at all
Tony Ferguson the type of guy to do thunderstorm yoga and actually get hit by lightning.
But it actually makes him stronger
😂😂😂
@@BeigeFrequencyayy mah boi!
This is the kind of content I subscribed for man. Great video and analysis on something that I agree a lot of us fans had no idea about myself included.
Well that reference to paddy pimblett has aged well, let’s see how it fares after the fight happens….
I love your channel bro the illustrations as an artist I can appreciate and the fact that you talk about everything from iconic Hollywood figures to wrestlers to TH-camrs to MMA fighters. Your range is so perfect and entertaining. And you’re narration is top-notch.
Tony has had mental issues since before he was in the UFC. And his fighting style of receive one to give one definitely didn't make it better. The further we get into his career downfall the more I believe he should have never been fighting in the first place. I would honestly not be surprised if 10 years from now we wake up one day, and read an article that he has killed a person close to him. And if they get to examine his brain they find out he's had severe CTE.
I wouldn't be surprised if he started developing cte since his football years and worsened over the years.
Why is everyone a doctor now
Tony's mental situation is so scary and heartbreaking. I have had some friends unfortunately suffer similar conditions, I can only imagine what his wife has gone through. ❤❤
Props to Biege - excellent analysis imo. I think the effects of weigh cutting are underapprecaited by the majority of fans and even some commentators. Doing it twice is significant. Then getting in with JG who's striking is undeniably concussive is without doubt crazy. The other significant point is the flaws/inconsistency/erratic nature of Ferguson's thinking. This guy is badly detached from reality. And it's sad. Thats nothing new - but your analysis is enlightening. I honestly believe in the not too distant future the current ways of weight cutting will be looked back on as senselessly dangerous.
Given how multiple fighters have died as a result of bad weight cuts, you'd think the MMA community would pay more attention to it, but not really. Weight Cutting is the best performance enhancers, but because it's technically legal people don't care unless it messes up a fight. I.e. Chimaev situations last year.
@@BeigeFrequency I completely agree - and your analysis of Tony's decline really illustrates the point - 2 weight cuts then fighting a concussive striker - all exacerbated by his fighting style, the apparent absence of anyone really giving him honest advice then add in the fact that he was probably due to start a down turn in his career and evidently has a vulnerability to mental illness. I take you point about multiple fighters - but I still think weight cutting isnt given the consideration it should given how dangerous it is in the current set up. And I say all this because I feel for Tony and his family - he's given us years of top entertainment and I fear he isnt't going to get the future he deserves. Excellent video Biege. Though provoking.
I agree. I also know that every single athlete knows everything you said, and they choose to fight anyway.
With Tony and the two weight cuts, he clearly:
1) Cut weight the first time
2) Stayed within that weight until the next fight, which told his body to retain that size “permanently”
3) Made weight again, but was unable to put back the weight he cut for the initial weight cut.
If you look at his size, he’s noticeably smaller for the fight, which hurt him in durability.
I still remember Tony being untouchable. Him vs Khabib was the dream fight everyone wanted to see. My guess is that he's probably going through some mental health issues which he has to take care of first before trying to make another run and win a few more matches.
what he has to do is take some antipsychotics and chill now
Tony is a man who is a walking dichotomy, he had an unreal athletic body, that he does not use to it's fullest, unreal ape-index paired with terrible footwork, he can have fantastic mental resilience and determination, on the other hand he has a giant chip on his shoulder, is too proud and spiteful for his own good, I can go on and on...
My man also had that hanging chin, was allergic to blocking / parrying strikes, never relented from pain ever, could take shots like few other people could.
His body is ruined and soon his mind will be as well, his wife should give Dana a call and have Tony cut for his and his families best, the guy is a multi millionaire he does not have to fight anymore.
I've been an el Cucuy fan forever, it's been obvious for a long time that Tony has unresolved mental Issues, you don't go up in the middle of the night and go for runs or keep yourself occupied with training for six hours a day if you are not trying to fight something off.
Combine that with a lot of brain trauma, many many weight cuts, periodic drinking problem and you have a receipt for disaster.
From what I've heard he has been unstable and hard to work with as well, although that was some time ago and possible related to the drinking.
A lot of props goes to Tonys wife Christina to have to deal with all this, Tony can be a very intense and scary dude for sure, CSO Christina!
Performing that double cut against Gaethje was so stupid, combine that with the amount of trauma he sustained also...
In my opinion he should not be medically cleared anymore and just retire or his two kids won't have a dad much longer.
Great video as always my man, although the case of Ferguson is very sad.
YES!! I've said since the beginning that the double weight cut HAD TO take some kind of toll. Just based on my meager experience, even one cut sucks badly, and I never even cut as much as top level fighters in the game routinely do. Now, that's not to say that I think it would've 100% helped Tony win that fight, as Gaethe is a certifiable assassin, but I don't think Tony would be as physically and mentally drained at the opening bell.
I haven't watched the video yet, but yes we should, I'm very worried for Tony. I hate to say it but I fear we could have a family annihiliation or another violent situation on our hands, all aided and abbetted by the UFC. That Gaethje fight was one of the most nightmarish things I've ever seen. One of the major failings of this sport (which has so many to be almost innumerable) is how few safeguards there truly are for athletes. Tony Ferguson produced some of the most entertaining MMA fights in history for the UFC and now the UFC machine is simply squeezing every ounce of name value they can get from his ghost. Sad situation for both Tony and his family, and given the state of mental health care in the US I doubt he'll get the help he needs before it's too late.
We have very good healthcare in the US. We just can't really force someone to seek treatment so that's why it seems like an open air asylum. But the mental health care is available and is quality care.
In life, always blame objects not humans. It's not Tony's fault he wanted to fight, agreed and signed contracts to fight. Took dozens/hundreds of prefight medicals and passed. Knew all the risks to his health since before his first fight. As an adult human seen by dozens of medical professionals and deemed safe to fight - while explaining the risks to Tony better than you can. But. It's not his fault. Right? I know you will say I am wrong, and that's fine. Because you know I am right. I won't even read your response so... :)
Tony's strength was always being so fucking tough that he could be reckless as hell and basically win by overwhelming them. Once he lost his resilience it was over. Gaethje was the tipping point but it was inevitable.
EDIT: Got to the second half. Jesus Christ that is more than alarming. This is dangerous. He needs to leave fighting now before he turns into a Benoit. That level of paranoia for someone who fights for a living...
Great video. As a Tony fan, I respect everything said in this video and I hope he gets better outside of fighting.
I kind of expect to get made fun of for saying this, but learning about CTE really spoiled my enjoyment of MMA. So many of the old stars act in ways consistent with it, and plenty of them admit to having memory problems. Maybe it's because I'm a dad now, but I just find it hard to see men with families getting smacked in the face and ending up like Gary Goodridge or Spencer Fisher.
It's really strange that MMA has kind of bypassed all of the concerns about CTE that other sports have had to deal with. I think it's a matter of living on borrowed time though, and the sport will eventually have to pay the debt it's been putting of for so long now.
Could be a combo of lowered testosterone plus dad personality. Not trying to insult but if you're a dad you're probably in your 30s so the testosterone ain't like it was when you were a bloodthirsty savage young man. But yea I could see how things like watching fathers killing themselves for the crowd doesn't help when its forefront in your mind.
In the olden days, a warrior who survived into his 30s was sitting in the reserves watching the youngins fight. Now they keep going to the front lines and get blasted on.
Anthony Smith is another similar case. In the Jones fight he took so much damage, and now he gets clipped once and he looks like he's about to pass out. His last win is impressive considering
Childhood friend of mine went professional in MMA a record of 10-7 and even that seems to have had an effect on his mental health impulsive behaviour depression never mind what it's like fighting these top guys in the UFC and how much more damage you take
One of the biggest things I hate about the MMA community is their lack of tact and being able to take fighters seriously. They ignore so many things that occur or try to change the narrative to better fit their own satiation for spectacle. Going back to the phone call Tony’s wife made, I have seen so many edits on social media using it in a Tony Ferguson highlight montage and it makes me sick. I’ve seen them do the same thing with Jon Jones and other fighters, and it just blows my mind how stupid this is. They don’t treat this shit seriously, they go on about how fighters are just villains in a story or treat shit like its some sort of fabricated storyline the UFC come up with instead of things that actually happen to real people. So many MMA fans look down on pro wrestling because its fake and they like real shit, but they’re just one side of the same coin. Fans just want storylines, caricatures served up for entertainment, they don’t care about the fighters.
I'm with ya, buddy. It makes me sad that people can separate the fighters as entertainers before they're humans. It seems like celebrities get a similar treatment, albeit in a sort of different way.
The stories about Rumble being abusive shouldn't be taken lightly. Tony going off the rails and that call. Jon Jones doing all of the things he's done throughout his career. It's as if people, because of the entertainment factor, can separate real world consequences and the reality of fighters because don't always see them as real people.
And if they do, they don't seem to care much.
@@shettywap they treat fighters and combat sports like its a fictional show where you powerscale characters or root for people because of some arbitrary connection, it feels completely disconnected from reality and its insane. Especially with Jon Jones. People treat him like a fictional villain instead of an actual person who has done horrible things in real life that have directly impacted others in negative ways, but I keep seeing people give him a pass because “he’s the GOAT and can do whatever he wants” or “he’s the bad guy don’t get mad” it’s infuriating
Who cares?? These fighters get paid good money to fight and to possibly get the sh*t kicked out of them. It's the price you pay for fame and money in the fight game. These fighters could care less about you so why be a bleeding heart sjw for them? Grow up and face reality. You would trade places in an instant to be in these guys shoes as would many people. I have no sympathy for these rich egotistical people. They're getting what they want and I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way.
Who cares?? These fighters get paid good money to fight and to possibly get the sh*t kicked out of them. It's the price you pay for fame and money in the fight game. These fighters could care less about you so why be a bleeding heart sjw for them? Grow up and face reality. You would trade places in an instant to be in these guys shoes as would many people. I have no sympathy for these rich egotistical people. They're getting what they want and I'm sure they wouldn't have it any other way.
@@mick_1976 you’re bald
Incredible to see how different his and khabibs career turned out, how distant they have become when once they were both considered to be kind of equals, not just in fighting merit and legacy but in overall life
One is a disciplined, devoutly religious man with values & principles, the other a foul mouthed alcoholic with mental health issues.... Not very surprising.
They weren't.
I remember a comment on an older Tony highlight video. It was something like "he's so close to being finished but always comes back and wins. That's why he's my favorite fighter."
😢
The picture you drew was absolutely haunting...
Thanks for this video. Whenever I heard talk of Tony's issues it seems to have been downplayed. I didn't know there was a series of these incidents, just the one with the holy water.
Tony needs help, and I know he has his own will but everyone including the UFC needs to rally around him to get him the help he needs for his safety and the safety of his family
Tony has some serious personality disorders on board. Honestly he needs an ongoing treatment plan-meds and close monitoring-for the rest of his life. I really, really hope he makes that decision.
Everytime @BeigeFrequency posts I click simple.
Tony's story is the most tragic in all of MMA. Instead of going out with a bang, he's chosen to bleed every last drop and fizzle out with a whimper.
Yep. Don’t even need the video to know that yes, we should be worried. The UFC should be held accountable
This is your most haunting painting to date. But an absolute masterclass in realizing potential for art. I am very sad with not only Tonys decline but his inability to realize he is not the man we once was.
I love Tony as a fan but the Nina Drama interview she took down was scary he was all happy, dancing, laughing and enjoying himself and then on a dime he flipped and turned just strange and she cut it short after he started acting like Nina was out to get him. He needs to be made to retire by the UFC. They can make him get a mental health evaluation before they can offer him another fight, and if he fails the treatment or refuses they can withhold him from fighting until he gets the proper medical attention. This will also make sure Tony doesn't just jump ship to somewhere like Bellator, OneFC or PFL. He acts like a person with true Paranoid Schizophrenia. The Nina Drama interview was when I saw it for myself, it wasn't just the same old strange Tony, this was something else. He went from dancing and smiling to accusing Nina of writing articles that defamed him and that her and the media want him to lose and then he just became abrasive getting that very telling holy than thou F-U attitude toward every question. So he needs to have and evaluation and seek treatment. He will have his fighting license suspended forever if he is found to be suffering from Schizophrenia since you can't fight with that diagnosis in most states. I have a bad feeling any man that does what Tony has done by running and jumping a fence with a kid is a danger to his family and needs to get REAL HELP. But mentally ill people think they are sane and everyone around them is crazy. Normal people don't say the things Tony says and they don't do the things his wife has says he has done. She must love him because most women would have just left and took half already. But Tony needs to be evaluated before someone ends up hurt or worse. But his family won't get him help because it would stop him from working so its a catch 22. If he stops working there is no money but if he gets help he might not do something crazy. Also the prolonged beatings he has taken over the past couple of years are not helping. Beneil Dariush, Justin, and Charles Olivera were really bad beatings for a total of 1 hour of physical head trauma. Most people never withstand more than 5 or 6 minutes of total street fight time fighting in school or in the streets. Tony has taken 10 times that amount most get in a lifetime in the last 3 year and he's now 40 years old. So if he doesn't get help I fear the worst.
Any idea where to find that Nina interview?
@@yeahbuddy300lbs It was up on YT and chopped up parts of it on instagram then it was taken down from YT, and I'm not sure why. Maybe Tony or his management asked her too IDK that is just a guess. But I bet its out there somewhere. I haven't checked instagram for it.
@@joesalyers I’ve looked everywhere and there isn’t even an article or anything mentioning it
@@yeahbuddy300lbs Nina mentions it in the Sean Strickland interview where they are sitting in a park and she looks like a park ranger or a girl scout. Its one of her latest ones.
@@yeahbuddy300lbs The video where she talks about it is called Sean Strickland reveals fight plan against Israel Adesanya and it start at 18:14
Tony has always been a creepy weirdo. Remember his TUF appearance and how unhinged he was overreacting to obvious jokes. He stood out as being absolute unfit to function in society. All memes aside, Tony needed to be on meds and supervision a long time ago
maaaaaan i love tony so much, i hope he will get well somehow. i was fully depressed for 3 years and i happened to watch 'the rise of the boogeyman' and made me cry, it made me change to the better..... we love you cucuy
When i feel depleted....my knees start to shake....i cant imagine pushing it further than that ....i remember i threw up once from running two miles without stopping....but my adrenaline was pumping so it wasn't that bad...but after 6 or 8 hours of sweating and not eating....you just feel awful.
That head kick from Chandler would KO anybody in LW. He exploded viciously and hit him with the ball of the foot right on the button. Only people like Mark Hunt and Marvin Vettori can tank this thing.
I actually don't think the Gathje fight was the downfall itself, but I think it primed him for the downfall.
After that fight I thought he was done for. But then he came out against Chandler and actually looked good. He clearly took the first round and was flowing well. Then that kick happened...
This is what people forget. There was hope in that first round and he was almost looking like the old tony. I guess his strategy of taking shots to the head over time just weakened him.
Most casual fight fans are smooth brained and only care about a fighter if they are going to fight or in stupid GOAT talks. You are right to shed light on this. People are easy to forget about terrible events that happen in this scene.
WHO TF IS WE!? YOU JUST GOT HERE BUDDY!
Please i thought we learned our lessons with guys like Chris Benoit and Phil Baroni more recently
Tony Ferguson is the type of dude to guillotine a giraffe
The UFC actually made Paddy vs Tony official. Let's see how it goes
Bro they actually made pimblett v ferguson a thing.......
I’ve always believed the double weight cut dramatically altered the Gaethje fight, even before the fight it was so crazy in real time.
I don't think the Gaethje fight was the reason for Tony's rapid decline. If you watch his fights before that, it's clear that he had slowed down a lot compared to his prime. It's just that he was fighting guys like Kevin Lee, Anthony Pettis, and Donald Cerrone so people didn't really notice. But compare how he fast and dynamic he looked against Barboza vs how he looked against Pettis or Cerrone.
Tony’s my favourite fighter of all time, by far. That Gaethe fight was one of the hardest fights to watch, the beating was bad enough but without the crowd hearing every single crack and seeing Tony come forward I felt like Duke in Rocky IV seeing Apollo get massacred.
His decline since has been so noticeable and I think it’s on Dana to cut him like he did Chuck, there’s nothing left to prove. My worry is Tony will probably go do something like BKFC and there’s not a promoter in the world who wouldn’t take him because they’re all leeches looking to squeeze every last drop out of these guys until they drop.
Tony is a case study waiting to happen and I seriously worry for his life, the brain isn’t made to withstand the damage Tony’s has.
It’s Tony Time:(
no, it’s time, tony.
It’s a disgrace that the UFC hasn’t cut him. He’s losing handily to low level fighters now. I disagree with what you said about McGregor. I think even if McGregor has slacking off and doing drugs for the last 2 years he’d still run through Tony in one round. Paddy, as bad as he is, would knock Tony out within the first 2 minutes. I don’t think Tony would beat a single lightweight in the UFC. I think every ranked featherweight would beat him, and probably many ranked bantamweights as well. Maybe I’m overestimating how washed he is, but only time will tell how much of a drop in competition it will take for him to get a win, but I don’t think it’ll be in the UFC. They’ll have to cut him after he loses one more, surely.
UFC cuts him he fights for another promotion, he has to decide it himself
I don’t really care for MMA but you’re probably one of my favorite creators- I always save your videos to put on in the background when I have a good time to game/ clean. In fact I’m not gonna watch tonight, because I’m going to bed soon. Sometimes I find a video of yours I meant to watch weeks ago in my saved later playlist and it feels like god is rewarding me for being forgetful by giving me a little treat
Interesting take , as always, but from what I can remember; it was more a case of Oliveira being merciful, by ‘choosing ‘not to go for any more submission attempts on Tony rather than, not being able to manage it. Charles already attempted an armbar and Tony refused to tap. Charles explained as much in the post-fight press conference. He could of put Tony out of commission for months , even years with a broken arm and you’d have no “decline “ to make a video about.