Khabib Still Wants to Fight Ferguson, Needs Location

The saga with the UFC 249 is still not over. Even though many believed that Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t going to meet Tony Ferguson in the headliner of this event, according to the Russian champion, that is not official.

During his interview with Brett Okamoto, the undefeated champion said that he wants to fight Ferguson, but that also needs the location. It is a bit different than he spoke several days ago, once mentioning quarantine, but still, it gives hope to all the MMA fans around the globe that they might see some action during these rough times.

“Right now, if they give me location and I can come out from Russia and I can go to any country,” Nurmagomedov said. “U.S., Abu Dhabi, doesn’t matter. I’m going to fight, 100 percent. Just give me location.”

Khabib also stated that he constantly texts Dana White, asking about the location of the event. He is still a bit angry at the organization for the lack of proper communication regarding the venue of the UFC 249. He already said several days ago, that his entire situation happened because of the information which he received from the UFC, suggesting that the bout would take place in the United Arab Emirates.

Just to remind you, Khabib was training with the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose. After the news broke out that Barclays Center won’t be the location of the event, all sorts of theories appeared. However, Nurmagomedov claims that the sources from the UFC hinted that the new venue would be in the United Arab Emirates.

He would pick his team and immediately fly over to UAE, but once arriving there, the local authorities notified the fighter that they would pretty soon close the borders and won’t allow any foreign travelers to come in. It is why he decided to go back home and wait for further instructions. But Russia, too, chose to follow the same path as UAE and close its borders.

In the meantime, Tony Ferguson demanded from the UFC to strip Khabib of his title, while also calling out the Russian Eagle claiming that he ran away from the challenge. It created a lot of hype on social media, which pretty much made the champion annoyed. It is why he spoke about all these things with Okamoto.

Khabib wanted everyone to hear his side of the story and to understand that he has a lot to lose by backing out from this event.

“Too many crazy stuff, too many questions, and I don’t have the answer. I understand people are upset because this fight, this is like a dream fight for fans. This is my dream fight. I lose money, I lose so much money. Nobody loses like I lose. Nobody. I lose so many things. I want to fight,” the champ said.

The destiny of the UFC 249 is still not decided. Some see Khabib out, and Justin Gaethje in, while others still believe that there might be a chance to see the epic clash of two arguably the best fighters in the lightweight division.

Also, there are those who claim that there would be an entirely different headliner, as many fighters want to step in and use this moment to promote themselves. We already mentioned Tyron Woodley and Colby Covington on one side, and Kamaru Usman and Jorge Masvidal, on the other, who are calling out one another. Francis Ngannou and Jairzinho Rosenstruik are also in the combination and might appear as the biggest surprise. It is up to White to decide.