Tony Ferguson rejects Charles Oliveira’s training offer after knockout loss

UFC lightweight Tony Ferguson has explained why he’s turning down Charles Oliveira’s offer to train together.

Earlier this month at UFC 274, Tony Ferguson fell to his fourth straight loss inside the Octagon as he was knocked out cold by Michael Chandler in Phoenix. The defeat came after setbacks against Justin Gaethje, Beneil Dariush and Charles Oliveira, with the latter beating ‘El Cucuy’ via unanimous decision back at UFC 256.

After the dust settled in Arizona, Oliveira was one of the first to reach out to Tony and suggest that they train with one another at Chute Boxe.

While the former interim title holder respects the Brazilian, he admitted in a recent interview that he doesn’t think it’s a great idea right now.

“I have to really reflect on what he said, because Chute Boxe is a very good school,” Ferguson said. “But he is in my weight class. I’m one of the only fighters that he hasn’t finished, and I went into that fight practicing zero jiu-jitsu. I didn’t do too bad. I didn’t do as bad as Dustin Poirier just sitting there laying there.

“I’ve got to really think about that one, because I see myself competing against him again. No animosity, but I went back there and talked to him before the weigh-in faceoffs. I told him, he was signing posting, and I walked up to him, put my hand on his shoulder and I said, ‘Hey, kid. You stay focused, all right?’ He turned around and he looked at me and he knows already. 

“Like I told him inside that octagon (when we fought). I put my arm around his shoulder and said, ‘Walk with me.’ I’m a good scout when it comes to certain things. … I know exactly what I have to do and I can’t really say no to it or yes to it. But I know right now that it’s not the time for me to go to Chute Boxe