White Announces Ridiculous Paddy Vs. Ferguson Matchup

A ridiculous lightweight matchup has been booked for UFC 296 on Dec. 16 in Las Vegas, Nevada, as rising English star Paddy Pimblett meets struggling veteran and former interim UFC lightweight champion Tony Ferguson.

The fight news was announced by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White on Friday night.

Pimblett, 28, is coming off a controversial decision win over Jared Gordon his last time out, but more importantly “The Baddy” is fresh off ankle surgery. The 28-year-old is already one of the fastest-rising names on the UFC roster today. If he’s completely healed from his bum ankle and able to bring his game to a new level this December a win over someone like Ferguson will do wonders for his notoriety.

That said, Pimblett was not dominant in his last Octagon outing and arguably lost the fight. Gordon is nothing that special at 155 pounds so the verdict is still out as to how good “Baddy” truly is or can be.

Luckily, Ferguson is a willing dance partner that is going to put the young English fighter to work. While “El Cucuy” has lost six-straight after winning 12 in a row before that, the 39-year-old still has some gas left in the tank. Ferguson has fought well enough over his last three fights to stick around in the promotion, but he ended up getting finished in each of those contests. This may be his last shot to pull out a victory before UFC starts handing out retirement papers.

Check out UFC 296’s red-hot lineup below:

Leon Edwards (c) vs. Colby Covington
Alexandre Pantoja (c) vs. Brandon Royval
Stephen Thompson vs. Shavkat Rakhmonov
Paddy Pimblett vs. Tony Ferguson

Thoughts? Does this Pimblett vs. Ferguson matchup make sense? Who has the early edge?

Let’s discuss!