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Khabib Nurmagomedov to Tony Ferguson: ‘You Missed Your Chance’
As previously reported, the UFC booked an interim lightweight title bout for UFC 236 in April. The fight will see current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway face Dustin Poirier for a vacant interim title. The current lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is facing a suspension due to the post-fight brawl at UFC 229. Later on, Nurmagomedov commented on another lightweight contender in Tony Ferguson on his Instagram account.
According to Khabib Nurmagomedov, Ferguson lost his chance to fight him. The earlier report indicated that Ferguson turned down the interim lightweight title fight against Holloway. Instead, Poirier received the spot. Khabib Nurmagomedov wrote the following:
I want to remind you guys, that before I become champion, I was close to the title fight 3 times and all 3 times I missed my opportunity. First was in July 2016 when I was offered to fight in Ramadan month and I turned it down, second was UFC 205 NYC when I was offered a title fight, bout agreement signed, but my title was given away, you know the story.
Third time was UFC 209 where I was hospitalized and almost died. But after every single fail I were said: you missed your chance, earn your shot with one more victory. Tony you had your chance and you missed it, and that’s your fault only. You know that I’m disqualified and can’t fight, but it’s not fair to strip me off the title, I fought 3 times in 9 months. I won and defended my belt. As a fighter you deserve a title fight, you are great fighter and opponent, but now you have to fight or wait for my DQ to be over and fight(but UFC doesn’t want it). I don’t understand your offenses, if you fell down, you got to get up, not complain.
UFC 236 is set for April 13 at the State Farm Arena. The card will be held in Atlanta, Georgia. The main card will be broadcast live on pay-per-view. Prelims will be shown on ESPN and UFC Fight Pass.
