Despite having already signed on to meet Edson Barboza at next month’s UFC 219, Khabib Nurmagomedov claims to have agreed to fight interim-lightweight champion, Tony Ferguson
UFC light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier took to Instagram on Wednesday with surprising claims. Cormier wrote that his American Kickboxing Academy teammate and #2 ranked lightweight Nurmagomedov told him that the UFC offered him a fight with Ferguson:
“So I walk into the gym today and @khabib_nurmagomedov walks up and says the @Ufc is wanting to make me vs @tonyfergusonxt for dec 30. They wanna make the card bigger for end of the year. Then he tells me that tony is saying no to the fight. Come on Tony, that ain’t gangsta bruh. Take the fight man!!!! And by the way Ufc says tony won’t ever fight Conor so that’s not an option. The fans really want it. Come on My friend, hit him with that low single u always talk about,” Cormier wrote.
Nurmagomedov took to his official Twitter account to ‘clear up’ the claims:
To be clear I was offered to fight @TonyFergusonXT on December 30th and I accepted the fight but my focus is barboza. @danawhite @ufc
— khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) November 22, 2017
Tony Ferguson has reportedly rejected the bout as is next in line to the UFC lightweight title, which potentially means a bout with current champion Conor McGregor or, should the Irishman be stripped of his belt, being instated as the 155-pound champion by default.