Dana White Accepts Blame For Khabib Nurmagomedov Missing UFC 249
UFC president Dana White has accepted responsibility for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s withdrawal from the original UFC 249 show. Nurmagomedov was supposed to put his lightweight title on the line against long-time contender Tony Ferguson on April 18.
The ongoing global pandemic meant the fight was left without a location and Nurmagomedov believing it would take place in the far east traveled home to Russia to prepare. However, once he arrived the fight was switched back to the United States and due to ongoing travel bans, he was forced to withdraw from the event.
It has been speculated Nurmagomedov won’t be able to fight until fall 2020. The undefeated wrestler took to social media earlier this week to confirm he’ll be back in the octagon earlier than many had expected.
“I can fight anytime,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “Ramadan finishes May 23. [In July], I’m gonna be ready. Stop talking about me. This is coronatime; when Khabibtime comes, I [will] smash all of them.”
Speaking to BT Sport White acknowledged Nurmagomedov’s return date claim and also accepted responsibility for the confusion which saw Khabib withdraw from UFC 249, he said.
“I’m sure you saw today, Khabib posted, ‘Hey, as soon as Ramadan is over, I’m ready to roll,’” White said. “There was a lot of questioning Khabib, people were saying ‘Oh he got trapped in Russia’ or whatever; what he said is absolutely true. None of us saw coming what happened and how fast it was rapidly changing and the world was literally changing by the day. We all made some bad decisions that got him stuck in Moscow. It wasn’t just him, we all did. I take responsibility for that too.
“It happened, and you know what we get out of that? We get Gaethje versus Ferguson, which is gonna be absolutely ridiculous.” (Transcribed by MMA Fighting)
