The UFC Lightweight Title is going to be defended at UFC 249 as champion Khabib Nurmagomedov puts the gold on the line against #1 Tony Ferguson.
Brett Okamoto of ESPN first reported the bout, which would serve as the main event of the show.
Nurmagomedov (28-0-0) is going to be making the third defense of his championship, previously defending it against Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov is going to be headlining his fourth straight UFC card and all of the previous encounters have been title bouts. Nurmagomedov has competed a total of twenty eight times as a professional MMA fighter and ten of those bouts went the distance.
Ferguson (25-3-0) will enter the bout while in the midst of a twelve fight winning streak and he hasn’t been defeated in over seven years. Ferguson is a former UFC Interim Lightweight Champion, defeating Kevin Lee to win the gold at UFC 216. Ferguson was the lightweight winner of the UFC Ultimate Fighter 13, defeating Ramsey Nijem by first round knockout in the finals of the reality show.
UFC 249 takes place on Saturday, April 18 from the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York with Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
