UFC 216 is now just around the corner and all focus is on the title fight where Tony Ferguson will take on Kevin Lee for the coveted interim lightweight title. UFC 216 will go down on October 7th and despite the postponement of the Demetrious Johnson Vs. Ray Borg fight for the flyweight title, the highlight of the evening will still be Ferguson Vs. Kevin Lee.
The Johnson Vs. Borg fight was initially scheduled for UFC 215, but unfortunately Borg had no choice but to withdraw due to sickness and the fight has now been pushed to be included as part of the fight card for UFC 216. However, it is apparent that as the fight night draws closer, the promotion is still behind the Ferguson Vs. Lee fight and have not jumped ship to the Johnson Vs. Borg fight.
Ferguson is coming into this fight frustrated by the fact that he has waited a long time to take on Russian rival Khabib Nurmagomedov, but has not been able to since Nurmagomedov has been out of action. Instead, Ferguson will get a chance to prove himself against Lee who is most certainly a worthy challenger to say the least.
Lee is currently ranked 7th as per the official UFC rankings. He last fight was a victory against Michael Chiesa, albeit a controversial one. However, a lot of people still feel Lee does not have what it takes to beat Ferguson, going by past records and stats. Ferguson is the strong favorite going into this fight. Lee has shown good form recently, but Ferguson is just plain stronger and has experience fighting against some of the best of the sport such as Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza and Josh Thompson. Having said that, it would be ill advised to write off Lee, he might be the underdog here, but he certainly has what it takes to cause an upset.
Author : Rory McGregor
