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Dana White Isn’t Sure What’s Next For Khabib Nurmagomedov Following UFC 209 Scratch

March 5, 2017 | Posted by Jeremy Thomas

Dana White spoke following UFC 209 (via MMAjunkie) about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fight with Tony Ferguson being pulled from the card at the last minute due to Nurmagomedov’s hospitalization over his weight cut attempt. Some highlights are below:

On Khabib Nurmagomedov’s weight cut issue: “To be honest with you, Khabib fought (at UFC 205) in New York in November then here in this fight. Two back-to-back weight cuts like that. I don’t know if he can make the weight or if he needs to get a better plan (or) dietician. Something. I don’t know (what he should do). He got within six pounds and was in really rough shape. He’s going to have to take some time to recover from this weight cut, and then I don’t know what to do.”

On Nurmagomedov being hospitalized: “So what would have been different is if he had called Dr. (Jeff) Davidson or Briana (Mattison), the two who handle all the medical stuff for the UFC, they would have brought him right to the hospital. Apparently he was treated horrible at (Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas). Shocker here in Vegas; that’s no shock. He should have gone to Valley Hospital (Medical Center). He should have been with (Dr. Davidson, who) would have taken him right in. They would have checked him right in and seen where he was. When you walk into just some random hospital here in Las Vegas and they see the guy and they tell him the weight cut, they just start filling him with fluids. That’s immediately what they do. They bring you in, they stick in the IV, and they start. (Dr. Davidson) would have checked his vitals, seen where he was. I’m not saying that the fight could have been saved, but maybe it could have. We’ve been in these positions before. This isn’t our first rodeo…He was having pains either where your kidneys are or your liver or something – I don’t know the exact specifics, but he was having pains. He looked terrible. I don’t think there was any real damage done to it. When I say damage, I mean longterm. It’s going to take him a little while to recover from this weight cut.”