UFC 279: Tony Ferguson Moves to Welterweight to Fight Li Jingliang
Tony Ferguson is moving up to the welterweight division to face Li Jingliang at UFC 279.
UFC President Dana White confirmed the bout during UFC 278 post-fight press conference after Ferguson tweeted about a bout earlier on Saturday. White confirmed that the former interim Lightweight champion will fight “The Leech” Jingliang.
Tony Ferguson was last active at UFC 274 in May where he was knockout by Michael Chandler. This was this fourth loss in a row after losing to Justin Gaethje, Charles Oliveira and Beneil Dariush. This welterweight bout will be Ferguson’s first since his win over Ramsey Nijem in the Ultimate Fighter 13 finale back in 2011.
Ferguson was once on 12 fights winning streak from 2013 to 2019, which ended with a loss the Justin Gaethje in a bout for the interim Lightweight title.
Li Jingliang has been 2-2 since the start of 2020. He recently bounced back from a loss to defeat Muslim Salikhov on July 16 Fight Night event. He was defeated by Khamzat Chimaev at UFC 267, who will be headlining UFC 279 PPV against Nate Diaz.
UFC 279 takes place on September 10 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV. The bout between Jingliang and Ferguson could be possibly placed as the co-main event of the show.
