The top two ranked fighters in the UFC Lightweight Division are #1 Khabib Nurmagomedov and #2 Tony Ferguson. According to UFC President Dana White, you shouldn’t be expecting these two fighters to meet in the octagon any time soon.
“So we were trying to make that fight — Tony said he will not do that fight unless he makes the same exact money that Khabib makes. Khabib has a different deal. That ain’t happening. Count that out,” White said in a media scrum. "He has a contract that he just signed not long ago. There’s a thing where these guys, I honor every contract no matter what it is. I get into some shitty deals, too. You’ve got a guy who’s making tons of money but he was a champion, but that was the deal I cut. I cut that deal and I signed it and I’ve got to live with my deal.”
There may not be a shortage of fighters who could face Nurmagomedov, including current UFC Featherweight Champion Jose Aldo, but Aldo claims that Nurmagomedov’s father turned down a fight between the two.
“[Aldo] did ask for Khabib,” White said. “He wanted to fight Khabib cause Khabib is looked at as the guy in that weight division. Khabib’s dad didn’t want him to fight. Khabib’s dad wants him to rest.”
Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought since defeating Michael Johnson by submission at UFC 205, while Ferguson hasn’t competed since defeating former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC Fight Night 91 and Aldo hasn’t fought since he defeated Frankie Edgar to win the UFC Interim Featherweight Title at UFC 200.
