UFC 256 saw the dimming of some stars, unable to recover from blows as they once could have weathered.
Jacare Souza, 41, was stopped by a looping shot from Guard by Kevin Holland, who won five fights in 2020, the year of the pandemic.
Bruh that was a whole ass murder!!
From the bottom!!!
HOLY SHIT!! 😱 😱 😱
Kevin Holland baby!!
Fort Worth baby!!
HOLY SHIT!!! 😱 😱 😱#UFC256 pic.twitter.com/KrMxEYreYj
— Cocaine Velasquez 🇲🇽 (@YayoTheCaveman) December 13, 2020
Junior dos Santos, 36, was rocked by a jab from undefeated Southpaw Muay Thai specialist Ciryl Gane, setting up the controversial finish.
https://twitter.com/ImShannonTho/status/1337963756035379200
And Tony Ferguson, also 36, did not look like himself, although his extraordinary toughness is undiminished, as seen when he withstood this armbar from Charles Oliveira.
Tony Ferguson refuses to tap somehow to that extremely sunk in armbar from Oliveira #UFC256 pic.twitter.com/Axl7uWAlDC
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) December 13, 2020
From 2013-2019, Ferguson put together an extraordinary twelve-fight win streak, and has now lost two in a row. At the UFC 256 post-fight press conference, president Dana White was asked about Ferguson’s performance.
There was some debates going into that fight, I thought we were going to see the old Tony, said White. I thought that the last fight [vs . Justin Gaethje] he was affected by weight cutting.
I mean 10 out of 10 people tap to that armbar. The fact that he even made it through the armbar is unbelievable and just a testament to how tough and durable and crazy Tony Ferguson is.
White was asked if the old Tony Ferguson, is gone, and that he’s now in irrevocable decline.
Of course that’s possible, replied White. But Tony needs to go home and spend the holidays with his family, take some time off and think about what he wants to do next year. We’ll see what’s next for him. Every time you fight in this business, that’s always possible.
However, while White believes that it may be time for JDS to retire, the same does not apply to Ferguson.
I think Tony’s still a couple fights away from making any crazy decisions like that,” White said.
