"90% of the fucking comments out there are saying that I'm washed up, I'm old, and I should fucking retire... They're saying that because they can't fucking do this shit that I'm doing.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 23, 2025
The other 20% is saying that Salt Papi is gonna knock me out, so 100% of you bitches are out… pic.twitter.com/fW70qWXmuq
For some reason, former long-time Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) fighter Tony Ferguson is boxing social media personality-turned-boxer Nathaniel “Salt Papi” Bustamante in the co-main event
of Misfits Boxing 22: “Ring of Thrones” on Saturday, August 30, 2025, inside AO Arena in Manchester—and it’s for the MFB interim middleweight title.
As expected, since the fight was announced, Ferguson has faced a barrage of criticism from fans urging him to retire from combat sports, and he’s fed up with it.
Today (Weds., July 23, 2025), Ferguson fired back at his detractors with defiance.
“90% of the f—king comments out there are saying that I’m washed up, I’m old, and I should f—king retire and all this other bullshit. They’re saying that because they can’t f—king do this shit that I’m doing,” Ferguson told Ariel Helwani. “It’s f—king crazy. The other 10% are saying that ‘Salt Papi’ is gonna knock me out, so 100% of you b—ches are out there hating on me. You know what? That’s more fuel for my fire.”
“I wouldn’t say [I feel] completely disrespected, but like you said, this age group is completely different, right? I’m talking to dudes in interviews who started watching me when they were five, and now they’re 23,” Ferguson added. “I’m 41 years old, halfway to 82, but when it comes down to it, I’m still moving like I’m f—king young, and I’m not going to quit because I’ve been doing this since I was three years old.”
Ferguson will make his professional boxing debut against “Salt Papi,” a move he’s wanted to pursue for years but was unable to due to his UFC contract.
Unfortunately, Ferguson is currently on an eight-fight losing streak, with five of those losses by finish. His last victory was against Donald Cerrone in 2019.
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