Tony Ferguson is all set to make his return to the world of combat sports after retiring from the Ultimate Fighting Championship. But the fighting community isn’t really happy with the news. ‘El Cucuy’ ended his UFC career with an 8-fight losing streak. His downfall began when his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov got canceled twice. But now, who is the former UFC interim lightweight champion going to fight?
Ferguson will take on Nathaniel Bustamante for the Misfits Boxing interim middleweight belt. The bout is scheduled to go down on 30 August 2025, at the AO Arena in Manchester, England. But Ferguson isn’t the only ex-UFC fighter competing at Misfits Boxing 22: Ring of Thrones. Darren Till and Luke Rockhold are going to fight each other at the event with the bridgerweight title on the line.
After hanging up his UFC gloves, the 41-year-old Tony Ferguson was briefly signed with GFL. But that evaporated pretty quickly. Right now, he’s set to make his debut in the world of boxing. But who exactly is his opponent? Popularly known as ‘Salt Papi,’ Bustamante is a social media influencer with his fame splashing off through YouTube and TikTok. However, unlike Ferguson, Bustamante has a bit of experience in the squared ring.
The British influencer, ‘Salt Papi,’ has compiled a record of six wins and two losses. But his fights were mostly against other influencers. Nevertheless, he is currently on a three-fight win streak in his exhibition career. To make things worse for ‘El Cucuy,’ ‘Salt Papi’ has secured all of his wins via stoppages.
BREAKING: Tony Ferguson will fight Salt Papi for the @MisfitsBoxing Interim Middleweight Title on August 30th in Manchester, England pic.twitter.com/q2T72894KW
— Championship Rounds (@ChampRDS) July 16, 2025
And that’s the reason why the fighting community is concerned for Ferguson. Soon after the news broke on the internet, Championship Rounds shared the same on X. Let’s see what they had to say about it.
Fans express concern for Tony Ferguson for his Misfit Boxing debut
During his run in the MMA world, Ferguson secured 25 wins, out of which 11 came via KO/TKOs, and 9 via submissions. It did seem like the D’Arce choke. And one fan decided to weigh in on this. The comment read, “Salt papi is no joke but I can see Ferguson spazzing out and cinching down on a darce.” Meanwhile, many others highlighted the strength that ‘Salt Papi’ carried with him.
Bustamante has fought under the banners of MF and DAZN X Series. He began his boxing journey with a win over Hamad Khan via a unanimous decision in 2022. This was followed by two back-to-back wins over Andy Warski and Josh Brueckner via KOs. In 2023, however, he faced two defeats. But he was quick to bounce back and win his next three bouts via finishes. Hyping up the Filipino boxer, one fan wrote, “Salt can lowkey box too. Sorry i love tony but they fed him to the wolves on this one.” Another fan commented, “People forget man Salt Papi is a good boxer.”
But the same can’t be said for Ferguson. One fan highlighted that and wrote, “Tony’s boxing in several of his last fights looked f——- horrendous. This makes me very sad.” And the outcome? Most of the fans believed that Bustamante would extend his win streak and KO ‘El Cucuy.’ One fan claimed, “The “content creator” that Tony is fighting Ggs to Ferguson, he’s going out cold .” Another fan commented, “Can’t lie, salt papi by demolition .”
In the end, many others decided to weigh in on the downfall of the former UFC interim lightweight champion. Despite having won against legends like Donald Cerrone, Anthony Pettis, and Kevin Lee, Ferguson is getting ready to fight a YouTuber-turned-boxer. And getting KOed by him seems even more disgraceful. One fan commented, “What a fall from grace, no undisputed title and now going to get knocked out by Salt Papi .” Another comment read, “from being one of the biggest goats in UFC to fighting influencers. What happened to tony man?”
But what are your thoughts on Ferguson’s boxing debut? Do you think he should actually retire and stay out of the canvas?
The post Tony Ferguson’s Misfits Debut Could Get Ugly — ‘Salt Papi’s Skills Are No Joke’ appeared first on EssentiallySports.
