Fight fans were thrown a bit of a curveball Friday night when Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White announced a lightweight matchup between Paddy Pimblett and Tony Ferguson for UFC 296 this coming December.
While Pimblett is one of the fastest-rising prospects in the sport today and Ferguson is an all-time fan favorite, the 155-pound matchup doesn’t make much sense at all. Pimblett is coming off his fourth-straight win to start his UFC career and Ferguson just lost his sixth in a row. “The Baddy” is a 28-year-old star on the rise while “El Cucuy” is turning 40 years old next February and clearly on the final legs of an illustrious career.
It’s unknown at this time what logic the promotion fell back on to book Pimblett vs. Ferguson, but it seems like a massive oversight. Some may even look at is as UFC trying to put “El Cucuy” out to pasture and build Pimblett’s stock, which didn’t sit too well with the MMA community after the UFC 296 booking was announced.
Check out some of the reaction below and let us know your thoughts as well:
What the actual fuck? What mad man made this fight happen??? https://t.co/Tub6EKWWra
— Chase Hooper (@chase_hooper) September 23, 2023
Paddy Pimblett is fighting Tony Ferguson. In a related story, the new Matchmaker for the UFC is Jake Paul.
— MMA Roasted (@MMARoasted) September 23, 2023
Tony I beg you pic.twitter.com/uuuX2fSsPR
— Jason Williams (@jasoneg33) September 23, 2023
“OHHHHH TONY HAS PADDY HURT BAD, HES GOING FOR THE FINISH”
Me: pic.twitter.com/YtYvGXwP4D
— Heavyweight Thanos (@MMAThanos) September 23, 2023
We are all rooting for tony
— Billy Quarantillo (@BillyQMMA) September 23, 2023
me seeing Paddy Pimblett vs Tony Ferguson is booked: pic.twitter.com/XKAkrPnzcm
— MacMally (@MacMallyMMA) September 23, 2023
Fight game is brutal. https://t.co/5XoF7tqtmT
— Luke Thomas ???? (@lthomasnews) September 23, 2023
Paddy Pimblett ending Tony Ferguson’s career will be my final straw with this sport. https://t.co/22ZYpAiWQs
— Super Fan (@McGregorRousey) September 23, 2023
This is as blatant as it gets.
And I hope T-Ferg D’arces him. https://t.co/ipN4DyLii2
— Hunter Alek Homistek (@HunterAHomistek) September 23, 2023
If Tony comes off of this losing streak and beats Paddy the pop is gonna be insane. pic.twitter.com/gMSRGlWhnW
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) September 23, 2023
PRAYER CIRCLE: !
Tony
KOs
Paddy— Bread (@WonderbreadMMA) September 23, 2023
we really went from tony ferguson vs. khabib debates 3 years ago to now being nervous about him fighting paddy fucking pimblett… pic.twitter.com/Zs4e2WNosc
— OOC MMA (@oocmma) September 23, 2023
The UFC knows what they are doing. This is a smart business decision.
Paddy’s stock is low, he got his ass kicked by Jared Gordon and has now been off a year.
Who’s the lowest risk, highest reward opponent? They’ve found him, Tony Ferguson’s corpse. https://t.co/XLUYmkx4OI
— Martian MMA (@UFO_UFC) September 23, 2023
Imagine the scenes if Tony fuckin Ferguson was the one to bury the paddy hype train https://t.co/Yrya4yoFNb
— Clint MacLean (@DieHardMMAPod) September 23, 2023