Dana White Confirms that Khabib Nurmagamedov vs Tony Ferguson Will Never be Booked Again After FOUR Cancelations…
The fallout continues. Fight fans woke up to the terrible news that Tony Ferguson has torn his LCL and will be unable to take on Khabib Nurmagamedov on April 7th. The pair were due to fight for the UFC lightweight title in Brooklyn’s Barclay Center in the main event of UFC 223.
That fight won’t happen now. Ferguson is going to go under the knife and is expected to be out injured for some time. It’s a big blow for the Californian because he’s effectively been stripped of his interim title as a result. He’s been replaced by Max Holloway, the UFC’s featherweight champion. The winner of Holloway vs Nurmagamedov will get the belt.
It’s a remarkable story. This is the fourth time this fight has been canceled. Fans are understandably frustrated. However, at least Holloway was on standby and is fit and ready to take on arguably the most frightening opponent, pound-for-pound in the UFC today.
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Cursed Fight
After four cancelations, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this matchup is cursed. The first time they were due to fight was as coaches for the Ultimate Fighter TV series. However, Nurmagamedov got injured and was unable to take part. The second time, it was Ferguson who had a lung issue that prevented him from fighting.
They continued the trend of taking turns to cancel when ‘The Eagle’ was rushed to hospital in 2016 after his weight cut for UFC 209 went badly wrong. Now it’s Ferguson again who is injured. Needless to say, the UFC top brass is sick and tired of promoting a fight that looks like it will never ever happen.
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Silver Lining
UFC President Dana White broke the news to fans that the fight is over and done with it by video. Many assumed that it was an April Fool’s Day joke, but alas, that was not the case. Holloway will replace Ferguson, but whatever happens next, Ferguson will not be fighting Nurmagamedov again.
In the video White said:
“Unfortunately this is not an April Fool’s. Tony is out. He hurt his knee. Tony Ferguson is injured but the beautiful thing about this sport is that the stud 145 pound champion Max Holloway is gonna step up and face Khabib this Saturday in Brooklyn, New York and it is for the official 155 pound title.”
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Never Happening
One thing is for sure, the UFC is finished with Ferguson and Nurmagamedov. When asked by ESPN if they would be matched again for the fifth time, White’s answer was emphatic. You can’t blame him for being tired of it all. He said:
“Hell no! I’m never making that fight ever again. Ever.”
The cost of promoting these events is huge and the two men have disappointed so many times already. This fight was touted as the biggest of the year so far. However, now that Holloway is involved, it’s arguably even bigger. The Hawaiian has the chance to become only the second fighter to hold two belts at the same time, after Conor McGregor.
