Khabib Nurmagomedov’s next assignment will be against the winner of Tony Ferguson vs Justin Gaethje fight, says Ultimate Fighting Championship president, Dana White.
The defending lightweight champion has dropped out of his scheduled title defence against Ferguson at UFC 249 later this month because of the travel ban in Russia, which led to the highly-anticipated match-up getting cancelled for a fifth time.
“I understand everything and I’m definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all,” Nurmagomedov said.
Even without Khabib, the UFC 249 will go as scheduled and the main event will feature Ferguson against Gaethje, with the interim lightweight title on the line.
Should ‘El Cucuy’ emerge victorious, he will be booked against Nurmagomedov for a sixth time to unify the lightweight titles.
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Top Two Guys
Following White’s recent announcements on the UFC 249 fight card, he confirmed that the unification bout is up next for Khabib and the eventual interim champion.
“You get Gaethje versus Tony,” White said in an interview with ESPN.
“It’s the fight that makes sense. It’s two of the top guys in the world. Khabib is out, so the winner (of Gaethje vs. Ferguson) will face Khabib next.”
White has also announced the line up for the revamped UFC 249 card, which includes a heavyweight clash between Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rozenstruik, a featherweight bout featuring Jeremy Stephens and Calvin Kattar, and a strawweight fight between Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade in a potential title eliminator.
Summer Return
As for Khabib, he wants to return to the Octagon this summer, urging the UFC to book him against Ferguson for the August PPV event.
“June, July, two months, then August I can fight,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN.
“I hear the UFC wants to make a show in San Francisco [in August]. If not, let’s fight in Abu Dhabi middle of September.”
“Or fight now, before Ramadan. April 18, we’re supposed to fight, but where? This is the question.”
Nurmagomedov remains unscathed in 28 professional bout including an emphatic 12 fight winning streak in the UFC, tying Ferguson for the longest and most active win streak in the UFC’s lightweight class.
Khabib has successfully defended the UFC lightweight title twice after submitting Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier respectively.
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(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Fight Library, Khabib, and UFC)