Tony Ferguson is stepping into the boxing ring for the first time this weekend at MF & DAZN X Series 22: Ring of Thrones. Headlined by former UFC fighters Darren Till and Luke Rockhold, he’ll be taking on famous TikTok content creator and Misfits star Salt Papi, who’s looking forward to adding the name of a legend like the former UFC interim champion to his list of victims.

When the fight was announced, no one expected to see Ferguson in the crossover boxing scene, with an MMA veteran recently claiming that this fight is a bad idea. John McCarthy, who used to officiate fights in the UFC, has shared a sharp analysis of Tony Ferguson‘s boxing debut. Although ‘El Cucuy’ is the one with more skin in the fight game than Salt Papi, ‘Big John’ claims that the ex-UFC star could struggle to adjust his game from MMA to boxing. Here’s why?

MMA vet claims Tony Ferguson’s standup game is not enough to beat Salt Papi

When we talk about mixed martial arts, we already know that it’s the most comprehensive and the most dynamic combat sport. Tony Ferguson excelled in this sport [before suffering a massive losing streak at the end of his UFC run] because he was able to mix it well. The 41-year-old’s grappling, along with his unorthodox striking approach, helped him become champion in Dana White‘s promotion. However, John McCarthy claims that Ferguson is likely to find it difficult to go blow-for-blow with Salt Papi because his standup isn’t on the same level as a boxer.

“This is not a good fight for Tony. I’m just going to be flat out honest… Tony’s a great f—ing person as far as he’s confident, he’ll take on anybody, [but] he’s not a solid standup fighter just with his fists,” John McCarthy explained on the Weighing In podcast. “Tony’s very good at crushing space and bringing in elbows, which makes him very effective. Tony’s also got the grappling part that helps him with his standup.”

Moreover, Salt Papi has shown real progress in his growth as a boxer since his first fight under the Misfits Boxing banner. He’s knocked down-and-out fighters time after time, which explains why he’s got a spot in the co-main event sport. Hence, the odds are in the TikTok star’s favor, and if Tony Ferguson happens to beat him, it will be nothing less than a miracle for John McCarthy.

“Salt Papi, a lot of people may be looking at him as a joke. He’s not. The guy can box. And boxing is a technique and a sport unto itself that you cannot sit there and think that, ‘Oh, I can just step in and be successful against someone that’s been boxing.’ And Salt Papi’s been boxing,” McCarthy added. “I think he’s [Ferguson] the underdog in this [fight], by far, and I’d be very surprised if he came out with a win.”

Meanwhile, in usual fashion, Tony Ferguson does not look like he’s worried about the fight this weekend. In fact, he believes that his UFC journey and the new boxing endeavor are like completing missions in the same video game.

Ferguson compares his fighting journey to video games

Recently, Tony Ferguson revealed his love for the Legend of Zelda video game franchise, taking it as an example to explain how far he’s come in the fight game. Just like completing quests and game missions, he believes that he left the UFC when he was just a couple of percent shy of a hundred percent from achieving all the “coins and s–t.” Now, Ferguson is treating boxing as an avenue to showcase to the world what his MMA journey all these years has taught him.

“You go and you beat the game and you go back and collect everything. You go in, and there you just buck it. So, like that, it goes all the way to 100 percent. I got maybe like 98 percent when it comes to the UFC, collecting coins and s–t,” Tony Ferguson told ‘MMA Fighting’. “This is a new time for me to be able to go out and demonstrate what I know, which is experience in athletics, to be able to put on shoes, don’t worry about anything else besides throwing f—ing hands and making sure I show up on fight night.”

Well, there will be a lot of eyes on Tony Ferguson’s fight against Salt Papi, as we wait to see if his bad luck ends and finally scores a win this decade. His last win came in 2019, so what are your predictions for MF & DAZN X Series 22: Ring of Thrones? Let us know in the comments down below.