The matchmaking for Tony Ferguson vs. Paddy Pimblett at Saturday’s UFC 296 event has been one of the more polarizing bookings in recent memory.
The lightweight bout takes place on the pay-per-view main card, with both fighters on opposite streaks — Pimblett rides a six-fight win streak, while Ferguson has dropped six straight bouts. Jon Anik, who will be calling the action alongside Joe Rogan and Daniel Cormier in Las Vegas, has heard the reactions to the matchup, and while many seem to believe Pimblett — who feels as if the bout is a “lose-lose” for him — is going to add a former interim champion to his career résumé, Anik defends the UFC’s decision.
“To those who would scoff at the matchmaking, Vicente Luque is a bigger underdog against Ian Machado Garry than Tony Ferguson is against Paddy Pimblett,” Anik told MMA Fighting. “I do respect what Paddy Pimblett has to say: Even though you are fighting a future hall of famer, the legendary, the inimitable Tony Ferguson, the upside really is limited when you’re fighting a guy who has lost that many in a row. He’s been highlight-reeled by Michael Chandler and others along this forgettable stretch.
“But if anyone is capable of rising to the pay-per-view occasion and pulling out a win at this stage of his career, I hope it’s Tony Ferguson. I’m not going to take you down the rabbit hole of the 12-fight lightweight winning streak, first lightweight with a double-digit winning streak and all of that stuff, right? But it’s about time something good happened to this guy in the octagon. A lot of eyeballs are going to be on this fight.”
Pimblett makes his first appearance of 2023 after suffering an ankle injury in his decision win against Jared Gordon a little over a year ago. Most scored that bout for Gordon, which didn’t exactly help Pimblett’s fan base grow in the aftermath.
In Anik’s eyes, there may people who don’t like Pimblett, but in terms of his skill set, he believes “The Baddy” doesn’t get enough credit.
“Public perception really seems to be split on Paddy,” Anik said. “When you talk even about the danger factor in this fight for Tony Ferguson, with respect, I feel like maybe you’re even a little bit dismissive a bit on the feet, in terms of maybe Paddy’s natural power, and perhaps not, right? But I think Paddy is a better grappler than he’s given credit for, a more willing grappler than he’s given credit for, and an outstanding athlete on the feet. Maybe he’s not in shape 24/7, 365, but who of us is?
“For Paddy Pimblett, you just need to not focus on trying to get this dude out of there with style points inside of 10 minutes. You’ve just got to fight your fight, and recognize that there’s a lot of unorthodox things coming at you and you don’t want to make a mistake.”
Ferguson has had a tough stretch as of late after seeing his long winning streak snapped by Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 249 in May 2020. Since then, “El Cucuy” has lost another five, including another three inside the distance.
Regardless of where the 39-year-old is in his career, Anik still views Ferguson as a must-watch fighter, not just on television, but in the fight week fighter meetings as well.
“Tony’s one of the guys that I think gets my heart beating in a different way leading up to those fighter meetings,” Anik explained. “There was a time certainly when we were very close, then there was maybe a little bit of a dip in our relationship where I think there was a fighter meeting in which he didn’t feel like I was all-in or all there, which obviously was a criticism that I took pretty seriously. Oftentimes I’ll lead the dance with his eldest son, Armand, to try to sort of soften the pillow a little bit.
“But I’m not really thinking in terms of his retirement. Even though I think a lot of people are in the business of retiring fighters, I just don’t like to be in that particular space. I think for us, we want to hear how this training camp is different from past training camps, is David Mills still a centerpiece?
“But what exactly has the preparation held? I know for me, my body feels different at 45 than 35. Even if I’m still exercising the same way, if I’m in a car for a long time, just getting out of that motor vehicle, stepping down just feels a little bit different at 45 than 35. Will he answer with veracity? I don’t know. But how does his body feel really at this stage of his career? How is his body recovering? I’m excited to see him try to have one final moment, and maybe it’ll come against Paddy Pimblett, maybe it won’t. But I’m always excited to see Tony Ferguson on the card at whatever stage of his career.”
