Tony Ferguson has claimed that a little-known fighter he faced on the regional scene hit him harder than any of the top stars he took on in the UFC later.
The former interim lightweight champion has faced the likes of Paddy Pimblett, Nate Diaz and Justin Gaethje over the years, taking some of their best shots. But he reckons a Canadian who only ever had two UFC fights hit hardest of them all.
Ferguson will see a different kind of power this Saturday night when he makes his Misfits Boxing debut at the AO Arena in Manchester. He takes on the knockout artist Salt Papi in his first bout since leaving the UFC earlier this year.
Tony Ferguson names surprise hardest hitting opponent
During an exclusive chat with Bloody Elbow, Tony Ferguson was asked who he felt was the hardest hitter he ever fought. The one name he usually gives is Edson Barboza, whose kicks are legendary in the featherweight and lightweight divisions.
But before he ever set foot inside the UFC octagon, he took on a man who would go on to have an 0-2 run of his own. “Before I was in the UFC I always say it was Brock Jardine,” Ferguson explained. “We went in there for a five round fight.
“It was my first five round fight, I took it on short notice and we went in there and rocked and rolled. It’s hard to find film on that one but damn, that was the one that set me up for everything because I was brought in to lose.
“Nobody was counting on me to win but I was ready, I showed up and we f—ing made it happen. I rocked and rolled and made it to the UFC. So Brock Jardine was one of the hardest ones.”
Edson Barboza gets special mention from Tony Ferguson on hardest hitter list
While Jardine takes the number one spot, Ferguson did admit that Barboza’s kicks were very hard to deal with when they did fight. He managed to overcome, winning that fight by submission in the second after taking some big kicks from the Brazilian, who still fights in the UFC to this day.
“One of the hardest kickers was obviously Edson Barboza,” he continued. “Edson was one of my favorite fights because one of us was going to go on to win that title and it ended up being me.”