Tony Ferguson finally broke the curse. After years of heartbreak inside the cage, the former interim UFC lightweight champion finally tasted victory again, this time under boxing rules. It happened at Misfits Boxing 22 in Manchester, where the 41-year-old pulled off a third-round TKO over Nathaniel ‘Salt Papi’ Bustamante.

The win silenced doubters, if only for a night. Ferguson, who once rattled off a 12-fight streak in the UFC, had gone six long years without a win in combat sports. Was this the rebirth of ‘El Cucuy,’ or just a temporary flicker before the lights fade for good? That’s the question Colby Covington wanted to answer.

In a recent video uploaded on his YouTube channel, Covington looked back on his strange history with Ferguson. The video even contained a clip of their back-and-forth at the UFC 296 press conference, and it showed sparks of friendship. As such, ‘Chaos’ stated, “I think we’re friends, I don’t know. It went so many different ways. We were friends, we were enemies, we were friends, and then we were enemies again.”

Yet, despite the chaotic dynamic, Covington congratulated Ferguson as he further shared, “But Team USA brother, you know, happy for him. Congratulations to Tony for actually winning a fight. You know, even though it was against some influencer that has no combat sports experience, a win’s a win.”

While Covington’s jab at Salt Papi is a trademark of the polarizing UFC star, the influencer-turned-boxer does boast a 6-3 record in exhibition bouts with 5 knockouts to his name. However, Colby Covington then handed ‘El Cucuy’ a heavy dose of reality.

He stated in his recent video, “My advice to Tony is, quit while you’re ahead and ride off into the sunset. Go enjoy time with your family, brother. If you get back in there again, you’re going to get hurt and no one wants to see you get hurt Tony, coz we like you.”

The fight itself was a snapshot of what made Tony Ferguson a unique figure inside the cage. He started slow, looked vulnerable, but found his rhythm when it mattered. Papi, a 31-year-old with a cult following in the influencer boxing scene, picked him apart early with slick counters and sharp left hands. But Ferguson, ever the pressure fighter, turned up the heat in the second round and suffocated Salt Papi with relentless aggression in the third.

The referee waved it off with seconds remaining, handing Ferguson his first combat sports win since 2019. And after the fight, ‘El Cucuy’ came out with a surprising revelation about how he managed to end his losing streak!

Tony Ferguson wants to “stay” at Misfits Boxing as he pulls back the curtain on how he managed to win

For Tony Ferguson, the drought wasn’t just about defeats stacking up; it was about losing the joy that once fueled him. Speaking at the post-fight media scrum, the newly crowned Misfits Boxing interim middleweight champion admitted that the real breakthrough came when he stepped away to rediscover happiness outside the Octagon.

According to ‘El Cucuy’, “No, I think more than anything else it was happiness. Finding that internal happiness of wanting to do something. People get burned out. I don’t know if you ever play video games, you get kind of tired of a video game but if that’s the only one that you’ve got, you going to stop playing it?”

That pause proved crucial. Ferguson emphasized that once he found happiness again, the hunger to compete returned naturally. It wasn’t about forcing a win; it was about embracing the process and finding a challenge that reignited his passion. In this case, Misfits Boxing offered the perfect platform.

The move seems to have given him a second wind. Not only did Ferguson stress that he feels at home with Misfits, but he also suggested that boxing may be his next chapter rather than a brief detour, as he further shared, “I’m here to stay. I like the Misfits Boxing. I’m a UFC Hall of Famer when it goes into it. I like collecting accolades and this is going to look cool in my hall, so I’m excited.”

So, Tony Ferguson’s win over Salt Papi may have brought back flashes of the old ‘El Cucuy,’ but Colby Covington’s blunt advice highlighted the razor-thin line between revival and risk. On one hand, Ferguson rediscovered his spark, crediting happiness and a fresh challenge with reigniting his hunger. On the other hand, Covington reminded him and fans that age and miles on the clock can’t be ignored forever.