A prediction made by Conor McGregor has once again proved to be correct after Khabib Nurmagomedov confirmed he will not be fighting Tony Ferguson later this month.
The undefeated Russian was scheduled to face Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18, but has pulled out of the fight due to the coronavirus pandemic.
It is the fifth time a fight between the two men has been cancelled and McGregor predicted earlier this year that exactly that would happen, but even Mystic Mac couldn't have foreseen the bout being scrapped in these circumstances.
Speaking in January, UFC President Dana White explained: "Here's the thing - realistically, Conor believes that Khabib vs. Tony Ferguson will not happen.
"We've tried to do this fight many, many times. Conor believes it won't happen.
"Conor wanted to do this [Donald Cerrone at UFC 246] fight at 170 because he wants to turn right around and jump right in and fight Khabib if that fight doesn't happen."
McGregor is now a possible opponent for Ferguson in just 16 days time, with El Cucuy open to fighting the former two-weight champion.
Ferguson told told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani: “He [Khabib] was in Abu Dhabi, he had his chance to be able to come back before the borders were closed in Russia. Decided to go back to Dagestan, did not finish his camp.
“The guy does not want to fight. He’s scared, he’s running. He should be stripped of his title.”
Ferguson added: “Bro, you have an obligation. You signed on the dotted line to represent your country. He ran. He did everything he could to avoid that ass-whooping.
“Nobody deserves that ass-whooping besides two people, ‘McNuggets’ and ‘Team Tiramisu’ – that’s Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov."
While Ferguson is interested in a fight with McGregor, he doesn't want to take on Justin Gaethje.
He said: “The dude’s [Gaethje] got a 4 and 2 record [in the UFC]. When all these things happened, when they stripped me of my belt – remember when I said it’s like a round-robin tournament?
“I had to fight everybody. I fought everybody that was in the top five. I knocked them all out or finished them in great fashion, and here we go, we’re back in the same spot. It’s like the UFC is trying to play keep away with me.”
