After a decorated career in the world of Judo, Rhadi Ferguson is making the transition to mixed martial arts. He got a lot of attention before his fight against John Richard for being a distant relative of Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson, but it's pretty clear the similarities end with the last name.
Ferguson (3-0) endured a bruising first round and allowed his superior technique to pave the way to his third career win. Ferguson scored a victory over the much larger John Richard via heel hook at 2:00 of the second round.
"When you start going for submissions, they occur in the iterative process," said Ferguson (4:45 mark). "Just like you throw combinations with your hands, you throw combinations with submissions. You don't stop until you finish."
Ferguson said he tried for a heel hook and a knee bar then switched from the right leg to Richard's left leg where he again went for the heel hook and then knee bar. He finished the fight by cranking on Richard's ankle.
"Doctor" Ferguson was also pleased with the way he handled the fight mentally except for one small slip. Early in the second, the Capella and Howard educated fighter was the victim of a low blow. Ferguson hesitated to allow the referee a chance to pause the fight, he didn't and he found himself on his back getting pounded. An Olympian in 2000 and 2004, Ferguson, who's also a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt fighting out of American Top Team in South Florida, showed his class by eventually getting hold of the leg.
At 35, Ferguson may be a longshot to rise to the top of the light heavyweight heap, but it'll be interesting to watch his progression.
He's a fireplug at only 5-foot-8. His power was evident in the grappling game. Richard, called in on short notice because of an injury, looked to be around 230 pounds on fight night. Ferguson got blasted pretty good on the ground for the first three minutes of the match, but remained calm and allowed the bigger fighter to exhaust himself.
Working with guys like Lloyd Irvin, Jeff Monson and Ricardo Liborio won't hurt his cause.
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