UFC 4 fighter updates: Tony Ferguson downgrades while Ciryl Gane, Li Jingliang, Robert Whittaker heavily upgrade

The latest update on EA Sports UFC 4 fighter ratings has seen Robert Whittaker, Ciryl Gane and Li Jingliang all improve. However, Tony Ferguson and Marvin Vettori saw some of their ratings tumble.

'The Reaper's block, takedown defense, and clinch control all saw improvement. He cemented his spot as the No.1 middleweight contender in Paris earlier this month, with Israel Adesanya's championship still in his sights.

Ferguson's stats underwent the most changes. His recent loss to Nate Diaz in the UFC 279 main event, which followed four consecutive losses prior to that, are now reflected in his in-game ratings.

His speed, head movement, footwork, cardio, and chin stats have been decreased. However, his top control and recovery saw minor gains.

Ciryl Gane's home win at UFC Paris against Tai Tuivasa was an impressive result and an important one in the Frenchman's pursuit of a title shot. With that performance, his in-game stats have seen improvement. His power, kick power, kick speed, and recovery ratings all increased.

Meanwhile, Li Jingliang received the most significant improvement in his stats with his switch stance increasing by a whopping 12 points. His head movement has also gotten better in the latest update.

Nate Diaz's farewell victory came via submission at UFC 279. His UFC 4 submission rating saw a slight bump following the win.

Johnny Walker also improved to an overall of four stars, with his takedowns, top control, submissions and clinch control improving.

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Robert Whittaker and Khamzat Chimaev have an unlikely friendship brewing

Amidst rampant suggestions of welterweight sensation Khamzat Chimaev moving up to the middleweight division following his weight-cutting fiasco at UFC 279, the Chechen-born Swede has named Robert Whittaker as someone he doesn't want to face.

Chimaev spoke to the press in a post-fight interview after his quickfire win against Kevin Holland and declined to fight Robert Whittaker.

“I like that guy, so I don’t want to fight good guys. I need some bad guys, so I want to fight some bad guy, you know? And don’t feel sorry for that. I want to train with that guy. He’s really good, like one of the best guys in the world. I was watching his fight… I’m a big fan, so I watch all things. I watch how he trains, and all these things. A lot of guys want to fight me, so Robert never said something bad about me."

Catch Chimaev's comments in the video below:

Robert Whittaker sportingly responded to 'Borz' in an interview with RJ Clifford and Din Thomas for Sirius XM, stating that he would gladly train alongside Chimaev.

“I heard what Khamzat said about wanting to fight bad guys and I can get behind that. If he wants to train together, I want to train together and we can go hunt bad guys together." (h/t MMA Fighting)