MMA
Khabib Nurmagomedov was scheduled to take on Tony Ferguson in the main event of the UFC 223 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York on April 8. However, the organizer had to make changes in the main event fight after Tony withdrew his name calling a knee injury.
Khabib Vs Tony is all that the fans want to see and this is the fourth time the match has been canceled.
Tony withdrew as he tore a ligament in his knee while on a studio set. He wrote,"Words Can’t Express How Hurt, Frustrated, Angry And In Disbelief, I Am Right Now.”
However, UFC president Dana White is quite aware of the fans' interest. Max Holloway (19-3) is set to fight Khabib in replacement. Dana posted a video and captioned "BOOM!!!!!! We got Khabib vs The Champ Max Holloway for the 155lb title this Saturday in Brooklyn New York!!!!!!!" as he made the main event announcement.
BOOM!!!!!! We got Khabib vs The Champ Max Holloway for the 155lb title this Saturday in Brooklyn New York!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/quvI3UqGXh
— Dana White (@danawhite) April 1, 2018
Holloway holds the UFC featherweight championship title at current. He will be the second fighter only after Conor McGregor to hold two belts in the different weight division if he wins. Conor will no longer have the claim on the lightweight title as Khabib Vs Holloway will be for the undisputed lightweight belt.
Tony, who claimed the interim lightweight title defeating Kevin Lee at UFC 2016, apologized to the UFC, Nurmagomedov, his coaches, teammates, friends and family, as he revealed his injury details.
"I Believe There Is A Silver Lining In This Nightmare Of A Reality. Because This Isn’t An April Fools." Ferguson wrote.
Kabib is undefeated in UFC with 25-0 streak. However, not to forget, Holloway has not lost since 2013 and is on 12 win streak.
While everyone is quite not happy with the announcement, Nate Diaz had different views. He joked about Tony's injury update as they missed four fixtures and tweeted mocking him on Sunday night.
Lol these guys can't even make it to war..
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) April 2, 2018
The two fighters have a cold relationship since last year. Last year, Ferguson commented the Nate was refusing to fight him. Nate, himself, is out of octagon after his rematch defeat against The Notorious at UFC 202 in August 2016.
With Max Holloway coming forward, Nate Diaz still was quit not happy as the match was labeled lightweight championship despite the absence of Interim lightweight champion Tony and undisputed lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
Here is the tweet:
They winging this whole shit ??
— Nathan Diaz (@NateDiaz209) April 2, 2018
Khabib also took time to call out the former featherweight champion McGregor as soon as Holloway was scheduled to fight against him. Last week, the Irish Mystic Mac tweeted "stay ready" to Nurmagomedov responded, "be ready to stay on the line".
Out of a sudden, Holloway came out as the competitor in less than a week's time. Khabib wasted no second to hit back at McGregor. The Russian tweeted: "Where are you now?".
Where are you now? @TheNotoriousMMA
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) April 1, 2018
Khabib previously had expressed his interest in Tony and Conor after UFC 2019 victory. But, he will be getting none of them.
He also advised Tony with a message on Instagram that read: "Tony heal up man. Just want to advise you, don’t talk too much anymore. Lot of thoughts in my head right now, but I don't want to become like you. Hope this lesson will teach you watch your mouth."
UFC president Dana explained McGregor wasn't an option to save UFC 223. He said: "I don't think Conor could make the weight on six days' notice. That's a tough weight cut for him. Conor isn't exactly the guy that I want to throw in as a late replacement fighter. He's a guy that I want to make a fight with, have the right amount of time to promote the fight, have the fight in the right place. So yeah, no. I'm not interested in asking Conor to take the fight."
