Tony Ferguson Defends Misfits Title Against Kenzo Biyong
The legend refuses to fade quietly.
Tony Ferguson, once the most feared contender in the UFC’s Lightweight division, is now building a second life in one of combat sports’ strangest new arenas. On Sept. 26, 2026, inside the James L. Knight Center in Miami, the 42-year-old will defend his Misfits Middleweight title against former soccer defender Kenzo Biyong in a five-round boxing main event streamed live on DAZN.
It is, on paper, a bizarre matchup. In practice, it fits perfectly into the chaotic universe Ferguson now calls home.
From eight straight losses to a new belt
Not long ago, “El Cucuy” looked finished. He left the UFC on the back of an eight-fight losing streak, the kind of run that usually ends careers, not restarts them. Nearly six years without a win. Too much damage. Too many miles.
Then he walked into Misfits Boxing and ripped up the script.
In August 2025, Ferguson snapped that brutal drought with a third-round stoppage of influencer Salt Papi in his Misfits debut, a result that turned curiosity into momentum. Four months later, he went again, dropping Warren Spencer and outworking him over the distance to earn a unanimous decision and the vacant Misfits Middleweight title.
Two fights. Two wins. A new belt around his waist.
For a man who once terrorized UFC lightweights with elbows, scrambles, and relentless pressure, the clean lines of boxing looked like an unlikely refuge. Instead, they’ve become his lifeline. His meeting with Biyong in Miami will be his first defense of that title, and another test of whether this late-career reinvention is a brief detour or a genuine second chapter.
A stumble on the mats
The revival hasn’t been flawless.
In June, Ferguson stepped back onto the wrestling mat at Real American Freestyle (RAF) 10 and ran into a wall named Arman Tsarukyan. The UFC Lightweight contender dominated, handing Ferguson a 10-0 technical-fall loss. It was a stark reminder of the gulf between an aging great and a prime world-level contender in pure wrestling.
But that setback came in a different arena, under different rules, against a specialist. In Misfits, Ferguson remains unbeaten, his awkward rhythm and veteran nous more than enough so far for the unconventional opposition thrown his way.
From European backlines to a boxing ring in Miami
If Ferguson’s route to this fight has been winding, Biyong’s path looks like something drawn out of a hat.
The 28-year-old Dutchman once patrolled the backlines of European youth and developmental soccer teams as a defender. He walked away from that world and switched to the grind of wrestling and submission grappling, trading boots and grass for mats and headgear.
That journey led him to a UFC BJJ appearance this past April at UFC BJJ 7, where he suffered a first-round rear-naked choke defeat to Raphael Ferreira. Now he’s stepping into yet another discipline, making his boxing debut against a man who has spent the last decade and a half inside cages, rings, and wrestling halls.
No tune-up. No gentle introduction. Straight to Tony Ferguson for your first professional boxing assignment.
Misfits builds a chaotic card
Ferguson vs. Biyong slots into a September 26 card that mirrors the Misfits ethos: part spectacle, part experiment, all noise.
Former two-division UFC champion Henry Cejudo will lace up the gloves to box Deen the Great, a collision between Olympic gold and internet stardom that would have been unthinkable a few years ago. Misfits Heavyweight champion Chase DeMoor will also defend his title against Plinio Cruz, better known in MMA circles as Alex Pereira’s head coach.
It’s a lineup that blurs every traditional boundary in combat sports. Retired UFC champions. Influencers. Coaches. Cross-discipline hopefuls. And at the center of it, a 42-year-old “El Cucuy,” still chasing chaos, still refusing to accept the quiet fade-out that so often swallows aging fighters.
On a late September night in Miami, Tony Ferguson won’t just be defending a Misfits belt. He’ll be fighting to prove that this wild, improbable second act still has legs.
