Tony Ferguson vs Michael Chiesa Prediction: Betting Against the Trend

The UFC is back in Abu Dhabi on August 3rd with a stacked card featuring many familiar faces. Check the prediction on Tony Ferguson vs. Michael Chiesa bout, which will take place on the main card. The fight will be in the welterweight division. 

Tony Ferguson is a legend in the making. He's lost the last seven fights, but he's not giving up. No one's been able to persuade him to walk away. Tony is on a losing streak that started in the spring of 2020 with a tough loss to Justin Gaethje and continues to this day. Once one of the UFC's most dangerous and entertaining fighters, El Cucuy is already in his fifth decade. But there's still hope in the hearts of fans—what if he wins right now? There are some reasons to be hopeful. He's not completely helpless in the cage and still has the same fire in his eyes.

Tony's last fight was against Paddy Pimblett, and it was a mixed bag. Ferguson started off strong like he used to, but then he went down in the first round. He missed some pretty hard punches and even found himself in a tough spot. He also lost ground in terms of speed and made many mistakes. However, he found his strength in the third round and maybe even gained an advantage. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to secure the overall victory.

Michael Chiesa, too, is also not a boy anymore - he's 36 years old. He's been in the UFC since 2012, but he hasn't done anything particularly outstanding during this time. Even so, he's faced the best in the business, with some success - recall his win over Rafael Dos Anjos four years ago. But typically, the guys at the top of the rankings beat him, and usually early (like Jorge Masvidal, Anthony Pettis, and Kevin Lee). Chiesa is on a three-fight losing streak, with two losses coming by submission.

Given where Tony Ferguson is in his career, there's no better opponent for him right now. Chiesa is a veteran as well, kind of lost his punch, fails regularly, and is thinking about ending his career (we're not sure if Tony is thinking about it, though). Based on the number of mistakes he's made and the number of joints he's damaged during his fights, we don't see how Michael can Tony. One more thing is working against Chiesa. Last summer, he returned to the cage after two years away, but things actually got worse: Kevin Holland had him in a stranglehold just two minutes into the fight. That's why we will go against the trend and bet on Ferguson one last time.