Tony Ferguson was getting beat up so bad he threw imaginary sand at Justin Gaethje just to try and stop the onslaught

• Tony Ferguson tried to fool his UFC 249 opponent with a cartoon trick.
• While he was getting out-struck and out-fought in the UFC's main-event at the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Florida, Ferguson threw imaginary sand at Gaethje's face.
• The bizarre tactic did not work out too well, as he went on to lose heavily.
• Though the fight was finished in the fifth round, had it have gone to the judges' scorecards, there would have been scores of 50-44, 49-44, and 49-45 to Gaethje.
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Tony Ferguson was getting beat up so bad during the UFC 249 main-event that he threw imaginary sand at his opponent Justin Gaethje just to try and stop the onslaught.

Ferguson carried a 12-fight winning streak into the VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena in Jacksonville, Florida, looking to scalp another high-profile name to reinforce his status as a fearless No.1 lightweight contender after the division's champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

But Gaethje's appreciation of footwork, devastating leg kicks, and accurate punching befuddled Ferguson until he was stopped late in the fight, in the fifth round, with a new 155-pound warrior anointed.

Gaethje's striking was so resolute that his UFC 249 masterclass was seen by Insider as the greatest MMA victory of the year so far, but there was one moment Ferguson attempted desperately to outfox him by relying on a bizarre trick.

Yes, after a leg sweep midway through the fight, Ferguson appeared to throw imaginary sand at Gaethje.

The renowned MMA reporter Ben Fowlkes at The Athletic tweeted: "Tony Ferguson out here scooping up invisible sand. That's the weirdsmobile stuff we came for right there."

—Ben Fowlkes (@benfowlkesMMA) May 10, 2020

The well-known MMA reporter Brett Okamoto at ESPN tweeted:

—Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) May 10, 2020

The MMA website Bloody Elbow called it "a superb display of weirdness."

Watch the sand stunt for yourself right here, with ESPN saying Ferguson was "channeling some Bruce Lee."

—ESPN (@espn) May 10, 2020

Obviously, the sand stunt had little effect.

At the time of the stoppage in the fifth round, the three ringside judges — had it gone to the scorecards — would have handed in scores of 50-44, 49,44, and 49-45 to Gaethje.

In a post-fight statement in the middle of the Octagon to the UFC commentator Joe Rogan, Ferguson hailed Gaethje's toughness.

"Props to Justin and his team … tough son of a b----," Ferguson said. "Thank you for taking the fight."

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