Tony pictured left, Li on the right.
Future UFC Hall of Famer Tony Furguson's fall from grace has been nothing short of heartbreaking. This man won an insane 12 straight fights in the deepest most dangerous weightclass, the lightweight division, from 2013-2019. This man beat the who's who of the division for years, the question for Tony is who hasn't he beaten in that weight class. Tony never claimed a unified Lightweight title, but for years this man was the Lightweight boogeyman, and his accomplishments make him basically an honorary champion equivalent in my opinion. He did capture the interim lightweight title in 2017 at least.
Tony is getting a little older now, and is starting to really struggle. I'm afraid he's getting a bit washed. After four straight losses, two of which that were in devastating fashion, many people are calling for Tony to retire...
But Tony isn't throwing in the towel quite yet. In a bit of a surprising move, Tony is making the decision to move up to welterweight, a fifteen pound increase from the weight class that Tony dominated for so long. Tony is no stranger to the welterweight division though, in fact there are some folks out there that believe Tony might be better at welterweight? Eleven years ago, Tony did win Ultimate Fighter 13 as a welterweight!
That championship fight would be the last time Tony would fight at Welterweight... until this Saturday that is.
Welcoming Tony back to the Welterweight soirée is China's own Li Jingliang. Li is a super game well rounded fighter who's been competing as a pro since 2007. His first fight with the UFC came on May 24, 2014 at UFC 173 where he defeated David Michaud. Since then Li has earned himself an 11-5 record with the promotion.
Since 2016, Li is probably fighting his best he has in his entire career. He's 8-3 only suffering losses to more than respectable opponents like Jake Matthews, Neil Magny, and Khamzat Chimaev. He currently ranks at #14 in the Welterweight division.
The more I think of this matchup, the more I think this is perfect matchmaking. A win for either guy right now, says a lot about where they are in their careers. A win for Tony gives Tony a lot of confidence and gives him a nice way to judge where he's at in the division.
A win for Li, just gives Li a nice name on his record. Yeah, Tony has been losing a lot, but he's still Tony and still very dangerous. Li will probably be facing a less drained, super motivated Tony as well.
Tony is by no means facing a giant Welterweight right off the bat either, Li is just about the same height as Tony. Tony will actually have a five inch reach advantage!
I'm maybe being a homer, but I like this matchup for Tony! I think he will have better power and a fresh mindset going into this fight. Li's speed could give Tony a problem though, we shall see.
I got Tony by submission in round three!
Comment your prediction!
