Tony Ferguson has claimed that a little -known hunter he encountered on the regional scene hit him harder than the top stars he later accepted in the UFC.
The former interim light weight champion has confronted with Paddy Pimblett, Nate Diaz and Justin Gaethje over the years and has made some of their best shots. But he thinks that a Canadian who had only struck two UFC fights the hardest of all.
Ferguson will see a different kind of power this Saturday evening when he makes his Miscenbok debut in the AO Arena in Manchester. He takes on the knockout artist Salt Papi in his first fight since he left the UFC earlier this year.
Tony Ferguson calls a surprise hardest opponent
During an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow, Tony Ferguson was asked who he thought he was the most difficult batter he ever fought. The only name he usually gives is Edson Barboza, whose stairs are legendary in the featherweight and lightweight departments.
But before he once set foot in the UFC-Oachthoek, he took a man who would have his own 0-2 run. “Before I was in the UFC, I always say that it was Brock Jardine,” Ferguson explained. “We went in there for a fight of five round.
“It was my first five round fight, I took it in the short term and we went inside and fluctuated and rolled. It is difficult to find films, but damn, that was the one who set me up for everything because I was brought in to lose.
“Nobody counted on me to win, but I was ready, I showed up and we let it happen. I fluctuated and rolled and pulled the UFC. So Brock Jardine was one of the most difficult.”
Edson Barboza receives special mention from Tony Ferguson on the hardest hitter list
While Jardine takes the number one place, Ferguson admitted that the stairs of Barboza were very difficult to deal with when they fought. He managed to overcome it and won that fight through entry in the second after a number of large stairs of the Brazilian, who still fights in the UFC to this day.
Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC via Getty images
“One of the most difficult kickers was clearly Edson Barboza,” he continued. “Edson was one of my favorite fights because one of us was going to win that title and it was me in the end.”