Rumor: Two Huge Fights Headed For UFC 209 In Vegas
Las Vegas’ UFC 209 pay-per-view (PPV) could be getting a whole lot bigger.
According to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, the UFC are closing in on inking two massive bouts to the PPV card in March. Helwani reports that bouts between top lightweights Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, as well as a welterweight title rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson are on the promotion’s radar:
The plan has always been Khabib/Ferguson and Woodley/Wonderboy 2 at 209. Still the plan. Both not quite 100% yet but that's what they want. https://t.co/1QZsNaZYje
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) January 7, 2017
Woodley and Thompson initially met in the co-main event of UFC 205 from the Madison Square Garden Arena in New York City, in which the Fight Of The Night ended in a majority draw decision being read from the judges’ scorecards. Immediately after the contest talks of a rematch began to hit wind, and it seems that’s exactly what’s going to happen.
Nurmagomedov is the most dominant lightweight in the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) today, as he is currently undefeated in his fighting career with a staggering record of 24-0. Ferguson is currently on a record nine-fight win streak in the UFC’s 155-pound division, and is looking to propel himself into a title shot with a win over ‘The Eagle’.
Ali Abdelaziz, Nurmagomedov’s manager, took to Twitter to post a rather cryptic message to fight fans, posting a plethora of Russian flags along with a few smiley faces:
😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀😀🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺🇷🇺
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) January 7, 2017
Abdelaziz was asked by fans what the Tweet meant, to which he responded with a series of Chicken emojis:
🐓🐓
— Ali Abdelaziz (@AliAbdelaziz00) January 7, 2017
The chickens are in reference to Nurmagomedov’s post-fight interview from UFC 205, in which he called UFC lightweight champion Conor McGregor a chicken for not having fought him yet:
“I want to fight with your (the UFC’s) chicken because this is the number one easy fight in lightweight division.”
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO-alhAlCx9/
McGregor’s head-coach, John Kavanagh, interestingly enough posted a picture of ‘The Notorious One’ getting some work done in the gym, despite the fact that the Irish champ stated he wanted to take some time off before returning to Octagon action to enjoy the birth of his first child:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BO48tt9gmCB/
As for Ferguson, he took to Twitter as well to tease an announcement to come regarding his Octagon return using the phrase ‘El Cucuy is coming’:
Time To Get Excited Y'all!!! #ElCuCuy is coming!!! #ElCucuyViene #TeamElCucuy #TonyFergusonMMA #SnapDownCity @paradigmsm #GP #Victoryon3 pic.twitter.com/sTcLnAA6To
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) January 7, 2017
What are your thoughts fellow fight fans? What could all this mean?
