Khabib Nurmagomedov Updates Fans On His Next Fight Following UFC 249 Cancellation

Khabib Nurmagomedov has told fans he will continue to train for his next fight after UFC 249 was officially cancelled.

The lightweight champion pulled out of his fight with Tony Ferguson a week before the show's cancellation after returning to Russia during the coronavirus pandemic.

It's unknown when 'The Eagle' will return to action in the octagon but he has updated fans on Instagram.

He said: "Until September, it's not too far away, although it's hard to believe that everything will end by September, but a serious person once said that in peacetime it is necessary to prepare for war."

The 31-year-old was replaced by Justin Gaethje and many fans as well as Ferguson himself criticised Khabib for not being available.

However, Dana White absolved him of any blame and put it down to the impact COVID-19 has had on the world.

"I know everyone was going crazy on Khabib and saying that he [pulled out]. Khabib didn't do anything wrong," the UFC president explained.

"If you look at the way that the world changed, literally by the day, we got caught up man, and he ended up getting flown back to Russia.

"He didn't fly back to Russia, he got flown back to Russia. So it sucks, but what are you going to do?"

Khabib is still desperate to fight 'El Cucuy' despite the numerous cancellations and told ESPN that it is a 'legacy fight'.

"I want to fight, it's why I choose this [Ferguson] fight," he explained to Brett Okamoto.

"Because this is a hard fight, because this is a legacy fight, this is like the number one fight for fans and it's the biggest fight in UFC right now.

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"Right now, if they give me location, if I can come out from Russia... I'm going to fight. One hundred percent. Just give me location." Speaking to @bokamotoESPN, @TeamKhabib says facing Tony Ferguson is his "dream fight" and understands why fans are upset.

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"Of course I can choose easy fight with chicken [Conor McGregor], but I choose the hard fight and anything can happen, I can't control this."

Do you think Khabib and Ferguson is on the cards when UFC returns?

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Topics: Khabib Nurmagomedov, Khabib, Justin Gaethje, UFC News, Tony Ferguson, UFC, UFC 249, Dana White

Daniel Marland

Daniel is a journalist for SPORTbible and he has previous experience with Manchester United. He has spoken to some of the biggest names in sport including Rio Ferdinand, Peter Crouch, WWE COO Triple H and WWE legend The Undertaker. May or may not do a decent impression of Jamie Carragher.

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