Robert Whittaker believes that Tony Ferguson could beat the “overhype” Paddy Pimblett. He shared his thoughts on the fights recently.
In the recent news, Dana White announced Tony Ferguson will face Paddy “the baddy” Pimblett at UFC 296. This fight will take place as the last pay per view of the year on December 16th at T-Mobile arena in Las Vegas. It’s a matchup that had a lot of MMA fans and fighters talking about. This would seem like the UFC is throwing a bone to Pimblett to get Tony’s name on his resume. While others believe Tony could get the victory being at the tail end of his career.
The two man will square off as the second fight on the main card. They will follow up after Brazilian striker Vicente Luque face rising superstar Ian Machado Garry. This card features two belts on the line. The first being the flyweight championship on the line. Alexandro Pantoja will have his first defense versus first time title challenger Brandon Royval. This fight card is stacked from the bottom to the top for a banger pay per view to end the year. The main event will feature the return of Leon Edwards for his second defense versus Colby Covington. The title fights will be followed after an intriguing welterweight matchup of Shavkat Rakhmonov facing Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.
Robert Whittaker Believes Tony Should Retire But Can Still Win
During an episode of the MMArcade podcast, Whittaker wasn’t happy with this match making.
“I think me and a lot of other UFC fans, especially fans of Tony Ferguson, ’cause I’m a fan of Tony Ferguson, we thought his last fight was his last fight,” Whittaker said. “That’s what it looked like. It’s not like he’s been on an incline or he’s been just getting beaten, or he’s been having tight fights but losing just somehow. It hasn’t been that way, and honestly, the Tony Ferguson I saw last time in the Octagon was just one that, I don’t know, doesn’t look like he has it anymore.”
With that being said, “The Reaper” continued on to say that Paddy’s skills have been overblown by his personality. Whittaker still believes Tony can win this fight.
“I think me and a lot of other UFC fans, especially fans of Tony Ferguson, ’cause I’m a fan of Tony Ferguson, we thought his last fight was his last fight,” Whittaker said. “That’s what it looked like. It’s not like he’s been on an incline or he’s been just getting beaten, or he’s been having tight fights but losing just somehow. It hasn’t been that way, and honestly, the Tony Ferguson I saw last time in the Octagon was just one that, I don’t know, doesn’t look like he has it anymore.”
The only way to find out is by tuning at UFC 296 on December 16th.
Quotes taken from Middleeasy.com
Meanwhile, Whittaker is coming off a recent loss to Dricus du Plessis where he opened up as a huge favorite. Despite losing, the Aussie did reveal he was now excited with movement at the top of the division following Sean Strickland’s title win over Adesanya last month.
Whittaker’s currently not booked, however, he is hopeful of returning soon and making a climb back to title contention.
What to you think? Do you like the match up Tony Ferguson vs Paddy Pimblett and who do you think will win? Should Tony retire after this fight, win or lose? Let us know in the comments.
Featured image credits to Embed from Getty Images
