Tony Ferguson is 42 years old, holds the Misfits Boxing middleweight title, and is 2-0 as a boxer. On Saturday in Miami he defends that belt against a late replacement opponent on the Henry Cejudo card.
For anyone who watched the end of his UFC run, this is a better outcome than seemed possible.
How Bad the UFC Ending Was
Ferguson left the UFC on an eight-fight losing streak. Eight. For a fighter who once looked like the most dangerous lightweight alive and who spent years being the interim champion nobody wanted to face, that stretch was painful to watch in a way that had nothing to do with wins and losses.
People who follow the sport spent those years asking whether someone should stop him from taking another fight. He kept taking them.
Boxing Gave Him Something To Win
Ferguson won the Misfits interim middleweight belt by stopping Salt Papi in August 2025, then beat Warren Spencer by unanimous decision in December to unify the title. Two fights, two wins, one championship.
That is not the UFC lightweight division and nobody should pretend it is. But it is a competitive combat sports promotion where he is winning fights, holding a title, and headlining cards. After eight consecutive losses, being the guy defending a belt instead of the guy being asked about retirement is a meaningful change.
The Opponent Situation Is Messy
Ferguson was scheduled to face Kenzo Biyong, a 28-year-old from the Netherlands making his boxing debut despite a background in wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu and boxing training. Reports later indicated Mahmood Sebie stepped in as a late replacement.
Either way, Ferguson is defending a title at 160 pounds over five rounds against someone who accepted the fight on short notice. That is the reality of this level of the sport, and it does him no favors in terms of preparation.
The Honest Assessment
Ferguson is 42 and has absorbed an enormous amount of damage across a long career. Boxing is easier on the body than MMA in some respects and harder in others, because five rounds of a boxing match means five rounds of someone punching you in the head with no grappling to break it up.
His chin held up in his two Misfits wins, which is the thing to watch. A fighter with his mileage who can still take a punch has a runway. A fighter with his mileage who cannot should not be in there.
Root For Him
The Misfits model gets mocked, and some of the criticism is fair. But Ferguson found a place where he can compete, win and hold a title in his forties after a UFC exit that looked like the end of his athletic life.
Saturday night at the James L. Knight Center, on DAZN, he gets to be a champion defending a belt. Given where he was two years ago, that is a win before the first bell.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.