Ex-UFC Fighter Chael Sonnen Gives His Prediction for Paddy Pimblett vs. Tony Ferguson

The former fighter has shared his thoughts on a bout that's caused quite a stir among fans.

Drew Beaupré | Sep 27, 2023

Ex-UFC Fighter Chael Sonnen Gives His Prediction for Paddy Pimblett vs. Tony Ferguson /

Chael Sonnen understands why a lot of fans weren’t thrilled to see Tony Ferguson matched up with Paddy Pimblett at UFC 296, but the three-time UFC title challenger argues the fight might not play out the way the promotion expects.

A former interim lightweight champion, Ferguson has been with the UFC since he won Season 13 of The Ultimate Fighter in 2011. “El Cucuy” put together an incredible 12-fight win streak at the height of his career, but unfortunately he’s now suffered six-straight losses after he was submitted by Bobby Green at UFC 291.

Pimblett is unbeaten since joining the UFC in 2021 and most recently won a controversial unanimous decision over Jared Gordon last year. The 28-year-old’s brash personality has helped make him into one of the UFC’s more marketable fighters, and on his YouTube channel Sonnen acknowledged that the narrative heading into a matchup with Ferguson at UFC 296 seems to favor Pimblett.

Paddy Pimblett UFC 296 — 20 out of 21 media members scored Pimblett vs. Gordon in favor of Gordon :: (Stephen R. Sylvanie/USA TODAY Sports)

“I know what I’m looking at as much as you guys do,” Sonnen said. “You can see when a guy’s time is past. But you’re still juxtaposing that against a guy’s time who’s never arrived. Paddy ‘The Baddy’ has never arrived… Tony just slid out of the Top 10, Paddy ‘The Baddy’ has never been in the Top 10. Never even threatened to be in the Top 10.”

“The Baddy” stopped his first three UFC opponents before struggling considerably against Gordon, while Ferguson has only faced the best lightweights on the promotion’s roster since his 2011 debut.

Sonnen does expect Ferguson to finally snap his losing skid when he meets Pimblett at UFC 296, but he also admitted that regardless of the result he'd like to see “El Cucuy” hang up his gloves after that fight.

Tony Ferguson UFC 296 — Ferguson had five failed bookings against Khabib Nurmagomedov before losing it all :: (Jeff Swinger/USA TODAY Sports)

“I do think that Tony is gonna beat Paddy ‘The Baddy’, and then that’s gonna buy him right into three more losses in a row. It does need to be a situation where if Tony wins, ‘Thank you and goodbye.’ If Tony loses, ‘Thank you and goodbye.’ I think that would make everybody have a little more ease with this.”

The UFC’s final PPV event of the year on December 16 was a bit of a question mark on the promotion’s calendar until just recently. The lightweight bout between Ferguson and Pimblett is expected to feature as part of the event’s main card, and unbeaten welterweights Ian Machado Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov will also face off against Vicente Luque and Stephen Thompson respectively.

The UFC 296 co-main event will see Alexandre Pantoja defend his flyweight title for the first time against Brandon Royval, and in the night’s headlining fight Colby Covington will challenge Leon Edwards for the welterweight title in a long-awaited matchup.

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Published Sep 27, 2023