Five times the Ultimate Fighting Championship has booked a fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, and each time the bout has fallen through.
While a litany of injuries — most notably one that resulted from Ferguson tripping on a television production wire — sabotaged the majority of those proposed bouts, a global pandemic caused the cancellation of their recently scheduled clash at UFC 249. With Nurmagomedov currently stranded in Russia due to travel restrictions designed to combat the COVID-19 outbreak, Ferguson is now slated to square off against Justin Gaethje in the headliner of a revamped UFC 249 card in Jacksonville, Florida, on May 9.
If Ferguson wins, he would conceivably set up a future date with Nurmagomedov, who is currently observing the Muslim holiday Ramadan and has hinted at a September UFC return.
During an “Ask Me Anything” Wednesday on Reddit, UFC president Dana White cast doubt on that timeline, at least as it pertains to a matchup between the Dagestani champion and Ferguson.
“Not very,” White said, when asked by a commenter on Reddit about how confident he was that Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson would happen in 2020.
“I’m afraid of what will happen if we try to make that happen again.”
While the highly-anticipated matchup certainly seems cursed, White recently claimed it was “100 percent” certain that the Ferguson-Gaethje winner would receive a title shot and that Nurmagomedov would likely return to action in September or October. Of course, Gaethje can throw a wrench into the proceedings by defeating Ferguson on May 9. White has also been bullish on a Nurmagomedov rematch with Conor McGregor, a notion he mention again during the Reddit Q&A.
Currently No. 1 on Sherdog.com’s pound-for-pound rankings rankings, Nurmagomedov has established himself as dominant lightweight during a 12-bout winning streak in which he has rarely been threatened. Ferguson has been nearly as impressive, fashioning his own 12-fight tear that included a brief reign as interim champion.