When it comes to Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson, we’ve been down this road before. Four times the fight has been made, and four times it’s been canceled.
Maddening, to say the least.
Here’s a brief look at the cursed history of this matchup:
- The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, Dec. 11, 2015 – Nurmagomedov, seemingly on the cusp of a title shot, is forced to withdraw roughly six weeks away from the fight after breaking a rib.
- UFC on FOX 19, April 16, 2016 – Ferguson withdraws this time. It happens 11 days out after a doctor won’t clear him to fight with fluid/blood in his lung.
- UFC 209, March 4, 2017 – Nurmagomedov is hospitalized on weigh-in day because of his weight cut and is ruled out of the scheduled interim lightweight title fight.
- UFC 223, April 7, 2018 – Just six days from the fight, on April Fool’s Day no less, it’s revealed that Ferguson blew out his knee tripping over a cable wire … seriously. Ferguson, then interim champ, and Nurmagomedov were set to fight for the undisputed title being held hostage by Conor McGregor. Max Holloway was to step in for Ferguson, but he withdrew because of a bad weight cut. Ultimately, Nurmagomedov fought and defeated Al Iaquinta to become champion.
After all of this, will we get a fifth booking? And will the fight finally, actually take place? Fans can only hope so, since no other fight makes more sense than Ferguson, who’s on a remarkable 12-fight winning streak, challenging Nurmagomedov for the title.
With that in mind, we’ve put together a video of faceoffs between the two rivals that you can watch above. Hope you enjoy – and don’t get too frustrated.
