Khabib Nurmagomedov Officially Out of UFC 249 Fight, Tony Ferguson Says He Should Be Stripped Of Title

Khabib Nurmagomedov has made it official; he’s pulling out of the main event of UFC 249, and Tony Ferguson says he should be stripped of his title for it. Nurmagomedov made the announcement on Wednesday to quell speculation after Russia offered the bout a glimmer of hope by revealing (per MMA Weekly) that not all private business travel had been restricted and Nurmagomedov could have conceivably made it for his fight with Tony Ferguson.

However, Nurmagomedov has shut down those chances when he took to Instagram to announce that with the pandemic worsening by the day, “it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight? – I understand everything and I’m definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all.”

The UFC has been pushing to host the card even without Nurmagomedov, with MMA Weekly reporting that officials are looking at revamping the card with either a bout between Justin Gaethje and Dustin Poirier, or one of them against Ferguson.

Meanwhile Ferguson appeared on ESPN SportsCenter and said Nurmagomedov should be stripped of his title” for pulling out of the card. Ferguson said he’s willing to fight “any time or anywhere” and said Nurmagomedov is not, adding, “He obviously knew what he could do to help save this card. He didn’t want to take any of those chances. Everybody is taking risks trying to do it. He bailed out, man. It’s pretty hard to explain, but he bailed out, man.”

This will now mark the fifth time that Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson has been canceled. All previous fights were scuttled due to injuries or illness.

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Staying home in quarantine and reading the reaction of people to the situation around my fight, it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight? – I understand everything and I’m definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all. The greatest countries and the largest companies of our time are shocked by what is happening, every day the situation changes unpredictably. But Khabib still has to fight, is that what you saying? – Take care of yourself and put yourself in my shoes. – 📍 Сижу дома на карантине и читаю реакцию людей на ситуацию вокруг моего боя, получается весь мир должен сидеть на карантине, правительства всех стран и известные люди всего мира призывают людей соблюдать требования безопасности, чтоб ограничить распространение болезни ради спасения людей, а Хабиб, освобождён от всех обязательств и должен демонстрировать свободу воли и тренироваться летая по всему миру рискуя своей жизнью ради боя ? – Я все понимаю и точно не меньше вас расстроен отменой боя, наверно у меня , как и у всех других, было много планов после боя, но я не в силах контролировать все это. Сверх державы и крупнейшие компании нашего времени в шоке от того, что происходит, каждый день ситуация меняется непредсказуемо. Но Хабиб все равно должен драться, так получается? – Берегите себя и поставьте себя на мое место.

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Apr 1, 2020 at 12:02pm PDT