Tony Ferguson is set to return to the octagon this fall at UFC 229, opposite former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis, per a new report.
After yet another injury layoff (this time forcing him out of the UFC 223 main event), Tony Ferguson is set to return to the UFC. According to a report by MMA Junkie, Ferguson has been booked opposite former lightweight champion Anthony Pettis at UFC 229. That’s the same card that will feature Conor McGregor taking on current 155lb champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the main event.
Pettis tweeted out the match-up via his official twitter account.
On to the next one! #ufc229 #teampettis #414 #702 pic.twitter.com/YNIljSseI5
— Anthony Pettis (@Showtimepettis) August 24, 2018
Ferguson (23–3) won the interim lightweight title last year at UFC 216, while McGregor was off dabbling on boxing against Floyd Mayweather (that fight took place a couple months earlier, in August). Picking up the belt against Michael Johnson, he was expected to face Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 in Brooklyn with the undisputed title on the line, after McGregotr was stripped for inactivity.
Instead, a knee injury saw him drop from the card. After Max Holloway stepped up but was forced out as well due to weight cut issues, and the chaos of Conor McGregor’s bus attack, Nurmagomedov would eventually face Al Iaquinta for the title. Ferguson was left on the outside looking in, meanwhile.
Pettis (21–7) got back in the win column in June at UFC 226, picking up a victory over Michael Chiesa. He’s 3-2 in his last five, which included a failed stint at featherweight.
UFC 229 takes place October 6 at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, NV.
