Tik Tok star Salt Papi was offered three UFC legends before Tony Ferguson fight came to fruition

Before being matched with UFC legend Tony Ferguson, Salt Papi was promised some massive names for his boxing return.

The Tik Tok dancer-turned-boxer is one of Misfits Boxing’s most popular fighters, knocking out the likes of King Kenny and Josh Brueckner on his run since the promotion began in 2022. His record with MMA fighters is so-so, stopping Brueckner and Amadeusz Ferrari either side of a loss to Anthony Taylor.

And he takes on a new brand of challenge on August 30 at the AO Arena in Manchester when he faces Ferguson. The American is a former interim lightweight UFC champion who was once one of the sport’s most feared fighters, but has been on a lengthy losing streak for the past five years.

Who is Tony Ferguson? Meet the iconic UFC fighter who redefined what it meant to be a ‘Boogeyman’Salt Papi was offered multiple UFC legends before Tony Ferguson fight was bookedSince his star-making knockout of King Kenny back in November, there have been a number of fights offered to Salt Papi for his eventual ring return. He had a number of big victories last year, and is now almost back to his early 2023 peak of popularity.

As a result, Misfits Boxing bosses needed to find him a big name for his ring return. And speaking with Fred Talks Fighting, the Filipino fighter explained who was offered to him before they landed on Ferguson.

“Tony is a legendary fighter and I was shocked when he accepted the fight,” he said. “I didn’t expect him, such a big name, to give me an opportunity to fight.

“I’m not sure if they turned it down, maybe they were just busy, but I had people on the list like Anthony Pettis, Mike Perry, Nate Diaz. All the big names, really, and Mams told me Tony wants to fight, so that’s it. We can always revisit or fight a professional boxer.”

Tony Ferguson insists he wasn’t cut from UFC after losing streakPrior to the coronavirus pandemic, Tony Ferguson’s 12-fight winning streak had fans wondering if he would be the man to defeat Khabib Nurmagomedov. The pair were due to fight four separate times, but it never came to fruition.

And when he finally did lose to Justin Gaethje in early 2020, the floodgates opened and Ferguson never won again in eight fights. However, he claims that he wasn’t let go by the UFC, but his decision to leave was mutual.

“It was just f—— boring as s— to me,” Ferguson said of his last fights in the UFC during his face-off with Salt Papi. “It was just like I was just doing it just to f—— do it so people can see me compete until we both parted ways in a good [understanding]…”