Tony Ferguson will try to reinvent himself at welterweight when he throws hands with Jingliang Li in the co-main event of UFC 279 on Saturday night. Read on for our Jingliang-Ferguson picks and predictions.
Already in the twilight of his career, Ferguson is looking to halt the longest losing streak of his storied MMA campaign. A terrifying Tasmanian devil-esque cloud of fists, elbows, and shins, Ferguson fell victim to a devastating Michael Chandler front kick in his last trip to the Octagon, pushing his streak of futility to four fights.
Unlike Ferguson, Jingliang heads into this bout fresh off a victory. “The Leech” got himself back into the win column at a Fight Night event in July, flooring Muslim Salikhov with a thundering right hand before polishing him off with some brutal elbows.
Now that we've set the table,
here are my top picks for the UFC 279 bout between Jingliang Li and Tony Ferguson (odds via FanDuel Sportsbook and DraftKings Sportsbook; pick confidence based on a 1-to-5-star scale).