Like the boogeyman that he is, Tony Ferguson seemed to be unstoppable. He mowed through one victim at a time, even as his sights remained set on a distant target that could never be reached. Ferguson seemed just too much for anyone who can hit 155 pounds on a scale, with his thudding punches and slicing elbows and endless ammunition, but mostly with his championship mind.
Saturday night at UFC 249, Justin Gaethje was supposed to be another casualty of El Cucuy’s curse, unlucky number 13 on his streak toward yet another booking with UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.