Tony Ferguson comes into the fight with Justin Gaethje in Jacksonville as the heavy favourite, with many expecting a long and daunting evening ahead for Gaethje. Will it turn out that way or does 31-year-old Gaethje have the tools to spring a surprise on what will be a warm evening in Florida?
On paper, it looks like Tony Ferguson has all the attributes needed to make light work of his opponent. Few can deny the punching power that Ferguson possesses and out of his 25 professional wins, he has managed to knock his opponent out on 12 different occasions.
Despite all of this and regardless of the fact that he achieves a knockout in virtually 50% of his fights, the latest Ferguson v Gaethje odds show that a Ferguson KO/TKO is as high as 13/5. That probably tells us a lot about Justin Gaethje’s chin and gives some sort of indication as to the never-say-die spirit that the Arizona-born fighter has.
There are a few things you need to know about Justin Gaethje and the way he goes about his business in the octagon. The first is that he has the ability to weather a storm when it looks like he could be blown over by a feather. Indeed, when you see him on the receiving end of a barrage of punches and think the end is nigh, think again. In fact, if you were to look at his official MMA record you would see that he has only lost two times over the course of an eight-year career in the sport.
A lot of the time he has been in quite poor shape during his 23 fights but when he is required to dig deep, Gaethje is able to counter the onslaught and turn the fight on its head. These six incredible fights show how willing he is to take a punch and then begin going on the offensive when all hope of a victory seems lost.
This is probably why a Tony Ferguson knockout is almost as high as 3/1 given that it takes a Herculean effort to see the back of Gaethje. That said, any sort of Ferguson win is priced a lot lower at 4/7 and your gut feeling has to be that he will, by hook or by crook, get it done.
@espn pic.twitter.com/bgX7Wujf5s
— danawhite (@danawhite) May 3, 2020
UFC fans are in for a mega treat given that these two men are not used to losing and can both take a punch or two. They’re also in the shape of their lives and that was proved after Ferguson cut 24 pounds in one week before their previous fight was cancelled in mid-April. These boys don’t sit on their hands when the sport is on hold and you can be sure they have been punishing themselves in the gym during the build-up to this fight.
It will be like releasing two chained up dogs when they meet in a humid Florida and there’s no doubt that tempers will be frayed. May the best man win, whoever that may be.