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The Khabib Nurmagomedov-Tony Ferguson matchup is cursed.
Early Monday morning Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to announce that he’s probably not going to be able to fight Tony Ferguson on April 18th because he’s currently stuck in Russia due to a countrywide lockdown. According to Khabib the UFC was attempting to hold UFC 249 in Abu Dhabi but that plan was foiled due to the fact that UAE had enacted a travel ban and grounded all flights coming in and out of the country.
Via MMA Junkie
“We were training at (American Kickboxing Academy) without any information regarding the fight – where and how is it going to happen,” he said (via RT Sport translation). “Then the UFC told us that the fight 100 percent isn’t happening in the States. And they said that 99 percent that it will happen in (the United Arab) Emirates – Abu Dhabi.
“After talking to the UFC, we decided to fly over to the Emirates a month before the fight. I don’t remember the exact date – it was (March) 19 or 20. I’ll have to check. But when we landed in Emirates, we learned that they are going to close (the) borders and no one will be able to leave or fly in with (the) exception of residents.
“So, we had to fly back to Russia. Currently, I am in Dagestan and I am training and preparing every day, although I don’t know what am I preparing for, because after we came to Russia we also learned that the borders are going to be locked. Same like in the States, same like in Europe, Emirates – everywhere. The whole world is in quarantine right now.”
Ferguson doesn’t seem happy about Nurmagomedov’s situation and called out the UFC champ for ducking him.
https://twitter.com/TonyFergusonXT/status/1244495533055414273
Dana White has been adamant that UFC 249 is still going to take place despite cities and countries around the world basically shutting down but we’ll have to see if he decides to go forward with the card now that Nurmagomedov may not be able to fight.