Khabib Nurmagomedov looking for title fight near end of summer

Top ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov was recently scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson in the co-main event of UFC 209 on March 4th, however tragedy struck the day of weigh-ins as Nurmagomedov was taken to the hospital and given an IV. Subsequently, given that after IV fluids he would have been unable to make weight had he been healthy, ‘The Eagle’ was pulled from the scrap.

Initially there were conflicting reports about Nurmagomedov’s next move. While initial reports emerged that Nurmagomedov’s father was possibly pushing for his son to retire, AKA teammate Luke Rockhold revealed that ‘The Eagle’ was healthy and looking to rebook his scheduled showdown with Tony Ferguson.

Now, Brett Okamoto broke news this week that Nurmagomedov’s health has been deemed “good” by physicians, and that he is looking for a title fight in August or September, after Ramadan, which Nurmagomedov takes off every year.

Per his manager, Khabib Nurmagomedov has visited physicians, health is "good." Ramadan starts end of May. Looking for title fight Aug/Sept.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 30, 2017

Nurmagomedov’s father released a brief statement to BloodyElbow on the topic of Nurmagomedov’s next fight, revealing that UFC President Dana White wanted to make sure Nurmagomedov was healthy before he booked the Russian superstar to fight again. He also stated:

“There is only Khabib and Ferguson. No more in division of fighters that deserve to fight for the belt.”

Of course, with that being said, this week, Tony Ferguson appeared to be past a potential showdown with Nurmagomedov as he called for a fight with Nate Diaz, saying:

“The only person I’d really like to go toe-to-toe with that probably needs some lesson taught to is Nate Diaz. I’d love to go toe-to-toe with him. For anybody else out there, they really don’t deserve a shot at fighting with me. Myself, the fans, everybody else would love to see that fight. Battle of California, baby. Let’s do this.”

on 3/31/2017.