There are once in a generation match ups in almost every sport. Such marquee matches are made special by many different reasons. For instance they can be special because of the storied rivalries because of the geo-political relations or many other reasons, whereas they can also be really intriguing because of the personal and intense rivalries between two teams or athletes. However, some matches are made special because two athletes rise above everyone else and outshine the others with their level of skill. Such is the case between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov. However, their fight has once again been scraped off and UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will step up and replace Ferguson. While this came as a surprise to many people, Holloway had cryptically claimed back in January that he would face Khabib at UFC 223.
Khabib was scheduled to fight the UFC interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson in his upcoming bout at UFC 223. They both will be competing for the undisputed UFC lightweight title and it is widely believed that the current UFC lightweight champion, Conor “The Notorious” McGregor will soon be stripped of the title due to a lack of title defences and activity.
Though, in a drastic turn of events, it was announced that “El Cucuy” has pulled out of the fight due to a torn ACL injury. UFC 223’s new headliner for the undisputed lightweight title will now feature Nurmagomedov in a super fight against UFC featherweight champion, Max Holloway.
It should be noted that the fight between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov has been booked four times and has always been cancelled. Hence, back in January, noted MMA journalist, Chamatkar Sandhu had asked UFC President Dana White at a press conference about his contingency plan if the bout between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov was to be cancelled again. Before White could have replied, Holloway took to the microphone and stated that he will gladly take that spot after March 3rd.
Holloway had somewhat cryptically predicted that he would replace any of the two headlining fighters at UFC 223. Sandhu recently shared the video of him asking the question to White and getting an answer from Holloway. Below is the tweet from Sandhu:
In January I asked Dana White if the UFC had an insurance policy / contingency plan in case either Tony Ferguson or Khabib Nurmagomedov were to get injured. Before he could even reply Max Holloway (@BlessedMMA) took the mic. pic.twitter.com/oM7ORG4pza
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) April 2, 2018
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