Big news on the UFC 229 front came Thursday night, when MMAjunkie broke the news that former UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson will be fighting Anthony Pettis on the undercard. The addition of Ferguson vs. Pettis strengthens the UFC 229 card, which has been called a “one-fight boxing card” by some, as the main event between UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champ Conor McGregor is obviously the reason fans will be buying this card. By adding Ferguson vs. Pettis, plus the heavyweight bout between Derrick Lewis and Alexander Volkov, the critics will be silenced as the UFC is putting together a very strong undercard for what will be a blockbuster event.
What the addition of Ferguson vs. Pettis does is also give he UFC insurance in case something happens to either Nurmagomedov or McGregor. If something happens to either one of them — whether it’s an injury, a weight-cutting issue, or a dolly gets thrown through a bus window — now the UFC has a backup plan in place if the unthinkable happens. If either Nurmagomedov or McGregor pulls out of the fight for whatever reason, now the UFC has Ferguson to step in and fight (or Pettis in case there’s a game of musical chairs like at UFC 223). The UFC has been going more towards the plan of having backup fighters for main events at recent cards — see UFC 226, where Volkov served as a backup to Stipe Miocic and Daniel Cormier — and while Ferguson does have a fight booked and isn’t just a backup fighter, you know the UFC would have no problem breaking up the fight with Pettis if it means saving the main event.
When Dustin Poirier vs. Nate Diaz was added to UFC 230, many fans and media members were confused as to why that wasn’t the co-main event for UFC 229, because most consider Poirier the rightful No. 1 contender. I guess the UFC feels like, for one, Ferguson is actually closer to the title right now than Poirier, and also the UFC wanted Diaz’ drawing power to help prop up UFC 230, which as of right now still doesn’t have a main event. It seems like the UFC has had a plan in place all along, and now the world’s leading MMA organization has an insurance plan in place for UFC 229, which as of right now is trending to be one of the biggest cards in promotional history. We’ve seen so many cards collapse in recent years due to someone getting pulled from the headliner, and after so many mishaps it seems like the UFC is finally committed to having backup plans in place.
If all goes to plan, Nurmagomedov will fight McGregor, Ferguson will fight Pettis, and Poirier will fight Diaz with no funny business going on. But we all know that in MMA the unthinkable often happens and it wouldn’t be surprising to anyone if any of these fights fell apart. At least now we know that in case something does happen to the UFC 229 headliners, we have a backup plan in place, and that’s a good thing. We’ve seen Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson get cancelled four times in the past, and while that’s not the fight presently booked, imagine how MMA it would be if something happens to McGregor and Ferguson ended up fighting Nurmagomedov at UFC 229. Or if something happened to Nurmagomedov and Ferguson ended up fighting McGregor. Or if Pettis ended up somehow fighting for the belt. There are a lot of crazy situations that could happen but at least now we know the UFC has disaster covered. Now, we play the waiting game and hope everything goes according to plan at UFC 229. But if it doesn’t at least there are alternatives.
Do you think the UFC should keep booking cards with backup plans in place?
