UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion Tony Ferguson were supposed to collide in the main event of UFC 249, but then Nurmagomedov pulled out of the bout due to the coronavirus.
While some were surprised that Nurmagomedov pulled out of the UFC 249 main event, one person who wasn’t shocked by this development is UFC President Dana White, who texted the following to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports (via Cole Shelton of BJPenn.com):
“Everyone knew he’s not fighting.”
Former WSOF Lightweight Champion Justin Gaethje is reportedly going to be replacing Nurmagomedov at the event, but no official announcement has been made at this time.
While everyone apparently knew that Nurmagomedov wasn’t fighting, one thing nobody knows is where the UFC 249 card is going to be held, as the promotion was booted from the state of New York due to coronavirus restrictions.
UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, April 18 from a location to be announced with Tony Ferguson and an opponent to be announced headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
