Paddy Pimblett opens up on downside to Tony Ferguson fight at UFC 296

Ferguson is a former interim champion but will enter Las Vegas on a six-fight losing streak

Paddy Pimblett has said his fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 296 is a “lose-lose” situation.

Liverpudlian lightweight Pimblett will enter Las Vegas on a six-fight win streak in December, while Ferguson has lost his last six bouts. That disparity in form has Pimblett fearing that he will not receive much credit for a potential win over Ferguson, who is a former lightweight champion in the division.

“This fight is a lose-lose for me, Tony Ferguson,” said 28-year-old Pimblett said on his YouTube channel. “I don’t care what anyone says, it’s a lose-lose. He’s on a six-fight losing streak. If I win – when I win – I’m just going to be like, ‘Aw, it’s Tony Ferguson. He’s finished. He’s this, he’s that.’

“If I lose – I don’t think it’s going to happen, but if I lose – everyone’s going to be like: ‘You just lost to a finished Tony Ferguson.’ So, it’s a lose-lose for me, but as I told you all in the past, I will never turn down a fight. Any fight that’s ever been offered to me by the UFC, I’ve signed on the dotted line, and that’s what’s happened here.

“The name Tony Ferguson got thrown at me, I signed on the dotted line. Now I’m fighting a legend, a future Hall of Famer, so that’s the way I’m looking at it. I’m fighting a legend of the sport who I grew up watching. It’s going to be an absolute pleasure to share the cage with such a legend.”

Ferguson’s ongoing losing streak includes defeats by Nate Diaz, Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje and Michael Chandler. Prior to that run, however, the 39-year-old American won 12 bouts in a row from 2013 until 2019.

Meanwhile, Pimblett is 4-0 in the UFC and last fought in December, winning a controversial decision over Jared Gordon.

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