Tony Ferguson Has Li Jingliang In His Sights After Climbing To Welterweight

Ever since making his debut in 2008, Tony Ferguson (25-7) has achieved several accolades throughout the course of his career. However, the 38-year-old has always had a point to prove one way or the other.

The American fighter doesn’t like the idea of returning to lightweight because he gets returned with vile comments, such as “skinny little b–.” This is one of the reasons why Ferguson will return to the 170-pound weight class to look forward to his next fight.

If you don’t know when you will see “El Cucuy” next in the octagon, it’ll be the UFC 279 pay-per-view (PPV) event on September 10 in Las Vegas. “Leech” Li Jingliang (19-7) will be his opponent. Their anticipated 170-pound fight is likely to be part of the main card lineup on a broadcast dominated by Khamzat Chimaev vs. Nate Diaz.

Ferguson hasn’t had a good time recently in the cage, losing four bouts on the bounce including last May’s knockout defeat against Michael Chandler. On the other hand, Jingliang is coming into this match on the back of a sweet knockout victory against Muslim Salikhov just last month.

The idea of the promotion cutting ties with Ferguson has never been realistic. However, they may have no other option if the 38-year-old gets extinguished in the ring for the fifth consecutive time.

The American’s last appearance in the welterweight division came in 2011.