Salt Papi will take on UFC veteran Tony Ferguson in one of the most unorthodox matchups of the year.
Competing at Misfits Boxing 22 on August 30th, Nathaniel Bustamente, better known as Salt Papi, will aim to hand Ferguson a loss in his boxing debut.
Salt Papi has been given advice by Luke Rockhold on how to beat the former UFC athlete. However, Ferguson will be a new test for the social media star.
The 31-year-old Filipino fighter goes into the bout on a three-fight stoppage streak. Prior to this run, Salt Papi suffered a huge TKO loss.
- READ MORE: Devin Haney defended his world title for the first time at boxing event headlined by YouTube stars
Salt Papi was knocked out by fellow YouTube star Slim in 2023
Fighting on the undercard of KSI vs Tommy Fury and Logan Paul vs Dillon Danis, Salt Papi took on Sulieman Albaher, better known as Slim.
The two were scheduled to compete across five rounds in Manchester, as Salt Papi was aiming to bounce back from a loss to Anthony Taylor five months prior.
As for Slim, the influencer had won all six of his exhibition boxing matches prior to the fight.
It was not to be for the Filipino fighter, who suffered successive losses under the Misfits Boxing banner.
Despite seemingly stinging his opponent in the third, the fourth round would see Salt Papi get stopped for the first time in his career.
Salt Papi had backed Slim into the corner of the ring where he seemed ready to apply pressure to his opponent. However, two short right hands from Slim would send the Filipino down.
Although Salt Papi returned to his feet, more pressure from his American opponent would cause the referee to call off the bout in the final seconds.
Tony Ferguson has won 11 MMA fights via knockout
Although Ferguson will be putting boxing gloves on for the first time when he steps into the ring to face Salt Papi, he is known for being a strong boxer in MMA terms.
Considered to have reasonable punching power and technique with his hands, Ferguson’s boxing often caused opponents problems.
In his 25 MMA wins, 11 victories have come by way of knockout. His most recent win came in 2019, when he finished Donald Cerrone via doctor’s stoppage.
Ferguson goes into his bout with Salt Papi on an eight-fight losing streak, however, knocked down the likes of Michael Chandler and Justin Gaethje in this run.