UFC 274 is about to blow the roof with a match with the potential to be fight of the year. The Rank 5 and Rank 7 Lightweight battle royale is underway with El Cucuy and Iron Mike ready to lay it all within the octagon. It’s been in speculation way too long and in its anticipation, both blood zombies have had many names thrown around with McGregor and Oliveira being only two of them. But now the long awaited Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler fight is ready for the ring.
Tony has had a lot to say about the privilege that Michael came into the fight with. While the talks about their fight were still underway, Michael was simultaneously entertaining, somewhat seriously, a potential bout with The Notorious Conor McGregor. To which the Boogeyman complained that Chandler had “Dana White Privilege ”, not dissimilar to what The Notorious Conor McGregor has had with the UFC chairman.
The bout between the two is sure to be an explosive and bloody one, both fighters are technical with extremely strong striking and brutal endurance. Both have experienced ground game however we believe Tony has the real upper hand here with his chaotic elusiveness and takedown defense.
Both of these top ten fighters have fought and lost to current Lightweight Champion Charles Oliviera. Despite this, El Cucuy and Iron have aspirations to retrieve the belt from the King of the Bronx and will cut down anyone in their way to that gold.
Chandler has had a lot to say about Tony in regards to both his technical skill and how he plans to counter it, saying: “It’s a fight that scares me a little bit because Tony’s a little bit crazy but those are the guys I want to fight. He’s a scary, scary man. He doesn’t really have an off switch. Even Justin Gaethje couldn’t really shut the switch off. He was still conscious, he was still moving. Tony Ferguson is just that dude.”
And also further saying: “I think my biggest advantage, I think I’m just basic and I’m going to keep a high pace, which we know Tony can keep a high pace, but I think it’s going to be a little bit sharper, I think my power is going to be a lot for him. I think I’m going to have a speed advantage and an athleticism advantage. I think I’m good in all the areas that Tony is good (at). I think he’s got very slick jiu-jitsu. I have yet to ever be caught in a submission, so I don’t see Tony catching me in anything like that. But he is very dangerous on the ground.”
Meanwhile, though 38 year old Tony hasn’t outright broken down any of the possibilities within the octagon, he’s made it plenty clear that he is out to give Michael his third loss in a row, under #ComingAfterChandler and breaking his own streak simultaneously.
UFC Chairman Dana White had this to say about the potential of the fight, “I mean, we knew, going into the Gaethje fight with Chandler, that it was gonna probably be Fight of the Night. It ended up being a Fight of the Year candidate. Might even be a Fight of All Time candidate and I think you’re going to see the same thing with this fight. I think this fight’s going to be unbelievable, action-packed, knock down, drag them out, and have fun.”
UFC 274 is on May the 7th at the Footprint Center in Phoenix, Arizona and the apprehension is killing us at RDX since it was first in talks, but we wish them both the best for their bloodbath. They both have played an integral part for our growth and we would love to see the same growth and improvement for both of their futures.
