Tony Ferguson has just revealed that he has been offered a grappling match against fellow Charles Oliveira at an undetermined date in the future by UFC Fight Pass Invitational. This wouldn’t be the first time that the two men have competed against one another, as they’ve actually fought in professional MMA back in 2020 as well. That was in the co-main event of UFC 256, and Oliveira won a unanimous decision thanks in part to a series of deep submission attempts that had Ferguson in serious danger at different points in the fight.
Since that fight took place, the two men have enjoyed very different career trajectories. Oliveira proved that he was deserving of a shot at the UFC lightweight world championship and he won it in his very next fight, successfully defending it immediately after. He was unfortunately stripped of the title for missing weight in his next appearance but he still beat Justin Gaethje regardless and his winning streak only came to an end when he met Islam Makhachev to try to regain his title. Oliveira has gone 1-1 since then and although he’s still got some work to do to get back in title-contention, he’s still firmly at the top of the division regardless.
Ferguson on the other hand has lost all 5 of his UFC fights since meeting Oliveira to take his total streak of losses to 7, including a pair of knockouts and a pair of submission finishes. This potential grappling match with Charles Oliveira would represent a huge opportunity for Tony Ferguson to get some revenge, even if it isn’t in his primary combat sport. Oliveira is a third degree BJJ black belt with a ton of experience in grappling competition though and if he didn’t focus on MMA, he could genuinely have been one of the top competitors in the sport. Ferguson is a 10th Planet black belt himself, but it will definitely be an uphill battle for him to get a win against an elite grappler like Oliveira.
Tony Ferguson announced the news that he had been offered a grappling match with Charles Oliveira in a recent post to his official Instagram account:
