UFC 249 is slowly slipping towards cancelation. It is the latest news from the world of sport, which will no doubt disappoint fans all around the world. Nurmagomedov won’t be able to leave Russia because of the COVID-19 pandemic and the measures imposed by the state.
Khabib Stuck in Russia
If, by any chance, the headliner of UFC 249 between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson has to be canceled, that will be the fifth time to see such an outcome in their case.
What the entire MMA community waited for so long, probably won’t happen. Khabib is currently back in Russia, and that is going to be a problem pretty soon.
According to the words of the undefeated champion, he came home solely due to the organizers of the event, and the wrong information they supplied him with.
Khabib stated that he received info that the bout between him and Ferguson won’t take place in the USA, that is at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. At that point, he was already in America, training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. The same source told him that the event would probably happen in the United Arab Emirates.
After that, the Russian and his team fly over to UAE, but following their landing, they found out that the government of the country is about to close its borders and won’t allow foreigners to come in. That is why they all went back to Russia, where lightweight champion continued to train for the match, but received another portion of bad news.
In a few days, Russia will seal the borders, too, not allowing anyone to get out of the country or to get in if he is not the resident. It is a measure introduced to control the spread of the pandemic.
Khabib is aware that he probably won’t be able to meet Ferguson, and is trying to explain to everyone that this wasn’t his fault.
Potential Replacements
The Russian heard that the organization already plans to replace him, and there are two names involved at the moment. The first one is Justin Gaethje, who apparently received an offer from Ferguson to step in and be his rival.
Gaethje has the same agent as Khabib and was recently in the middle of the attention once he challenged Conor McGregor to face him. The other guy who might be Ferguson’s opponent is Dustin Poirier.
The UFC has an option to change headliner and introduce a whole new contest. The two guys whose names are mentioned the most are Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal, with both of them being ready to fight. Masvidal openly stated that he has no other plans on April 18 and that he wants to meet the reigning welterweight champion. Usman’s response was to start cutting his weight.
Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzino Rosenstruik is the next possibility, and it seems that these two guys are also in the mood for making a fight, the same as Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington. The two are open to making a deal. All this means that we might even see more fights than initially planned.
