The UFC has been dealt another crushing blow in their efforts to keep UFC 249 on schedule for April 18. The main event was to feature a lightweight title fight between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, but that has now changed. Nurmagomedov revealed on IG live that he is in Russia and travel from or out of the country has been shut down. UFC 249 has lost its main event and UFC President Dana White’s reason for pushing through with UFC 249 during a global pandemic.
Russia’s news outlet RT.com has transcribed the video, in which Nurmagomedov reveals his situation.
This will mark the fifth time that Ferguson and Nurmagomedov where supposed to fight and the bout gets cancelled. The fight has been the most anticipated fight in recent UFC history, as both are seen as two of the greatest lightweights in MMA today. The last time they were scheduled to fight, Ferguson had accidentally injured himself tripping over a wire promoting the fight.