Khabib Nurmagomedov News

Russell Ess - August 16, 2017

News erupted on Tuesday when UFC President Dana White announced that Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee will be fighting for the UFC interim lightweight title at UFC 216. Many were wondering what happened to the #1 UFC ranked lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov. White addressed the question regarding “The Eagle” when he revealed the fight between Ferguson and Lee and said that Nurmagomedov simply isn’t ready to return to competition yet.

Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017

The reason Dana White gave for Ferguson vs. Lee was that Nurmagomedov wasn’t ready. This was him yesterday. #UFC216 https://t.co/lQQbSVoNyJ pic.twitter.com/j5u3ODg5r6 — Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) August 16, 2017

Tom Taylor - August 16, 2017

Last night, we learned that top lightweight contender Tony Ferguson would be fighting Kevin Lee – not the undefeated Khabib Nurmagomedov – for the UFC interim lightweight title at UFC 216 this October 7. Unsurprisingly, this news was not particularly well received by Nurmagomedov’s team. Speaking on his Russian social media account, Nurmagomedov’s father and long-time coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov criticized this newly-announced booking.

Chris Taylor - August 15, 2017

Earlier tonight UFC President Dana White announced that an interim lightweight title fight between surging division contenders Tony Ferguson and Kevin Lee will be taking place at UFC 216 on October 7 in Las Vegas. The interim title fight between Lee and Ferguson came as a surprise to many, as the original plan was to have undefeated lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov square off with “El Cucuy”.

Chris Taylor - July 24, 2017

Undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will not be fighting Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas. TSN Sports Aaron Bronsteter tweeted out the following information earlier today explaining that the Russian sensation was offered an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, but ultimately turned it down so that he could have more time to prepare.

Russell Ess - July 18, 2017

We have not seen current #1 UFC ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov compete since November of last year where he defeated Michael Johnson by submission in the third round. “The Eagle” was scheduled to fight #2 ranked lightweight Tony Ferguson in a UFC interim lightweight title fight at UFC 209 in March. However, Nurmagomdeov suffered weight management medical issues hours before the UFC 209 weigh-ins and was taken to a hospital and the interim title fight was canceled. Since the mishap, Khabib has stated that he has been recovering from his medical issues suffered in March and was aiming to fight Ferguson first and then Conor McGregor in the Winter. McGregor has stated that a fight with Nurmagomedov in his home country of Russia is something that has his interest after his mega money fight with Floyd Mayweather in August.

Russell Ess - July 17, 2017

There are a lot of people speculating that Conor McGregor will not be fighting in the UFC after he receives his massive payday from the boxing match against Floyd Mayweather. Even UFC President Dana White isn’t sure if “The Notorious” will walk away from fighting after August 26.

bjpenndotcom - June 30, 2017

We'll be back soon, InshaAllah. Fun is just beginning, although a long trip is behind. Autumn Tony, Winter Conor. #thinkingoutloud ❗️ Скоро вернёмся ИншаАллагь. Все самое интересное только начинается, хотя и пройдено очень многое. Осенью Тони, Зимой Конор. #Мысливслух #ufc #mma #Nurmagomedov #победатолькоотВсевышнего A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Jun 30, 2017 at 1:08pm PDT

bjpenndotcom - June 23, 2017

UFC lightweight #1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has been absent from the Octagon since his UFC 205 win over Michael Johnson, where he cemented his place as the lightweight #1 contender on the UFC’s official lightweight rankings. Following the fight, Nurmagomedov was booked to fight #2 ranked lightweight Tony Ferguson in a highly anticipated interim lightweight title fight that would see the winner fight Conor McGregor for the undisputed title when the Irish superstar returned to the Octagon. Unfortunately for Nurmagomedov, he was taken to the emergency room the night before weigh-ins, and was ultimately pulled from the fight.

bjpenndotcom - June 17, 2017

Saturday morning, American fight fans tuned into UFC Fight Pass for a highly anticipated morning of fights in Singapore, headlined by a women’s bantamweight showdown between Holly Holm and Bethe Correia. On the main card however, former UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos picked up a unanimous decision win over Tarec Saffiedine in his UFC welterweight debut. The win over Saffiedine was a much needed one for dos Anjos, who was riding a 2-fight skid going into his welterweight debut that saw him drop a 1st round TKO to Eddie Alvarez to lose the lightweight title nearly a year ago before then dropping a unanimous decision to Tony Ferguson. Following Dos Anjos’ win over Saffiedine, UFC lightweight #1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov called for a fight between Dos Anjos and top ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal:

Tom Taylor - May 23, 2017

If things had unfolded just a little bit differently back in February, Khabib Nurmagomedov could be wearing UFC interim lightweight gold right now. He was, after all, scheduled for an interim lightweight title fight with fellow star Tony Ferguson. Unfortunately, Nurmagomedov was forced out of this planned collision with Ferguson after he was hospitalized due to a botched weight cut. Left without an opponent at the last minute, Ferguson was then also forced off the card.

bjpenndotcom - May 11, 2017

UFC lightweight Edson Barboza has been on a bit of a tear of the UFC’s lightweight division lately. After dropping a submission loss to Tony Ferguson in 2015, Barboza bounced back by picking up a unanimous decision win over Anthony Pettis at UFC 197 to return to the win column. Barboza built momentum on the win by picking up yet another unanimous decision win, this time over Gilbert Melendez almost exactly a year ago. Most recently, Barboza defeated Beneil Dariush via flying knee back in March to pick up a highlight reel knockout. Now, following hand surgery, Barboza is already looking to secure himself his next fight. He spoke to MMAFighting:

Tom Taylor - April 21, 2017

During a recent visit to beautiful Moscow, Russia, former UFC welterweight champion and upcoming middleweight title challenger Georges St-Pierre spoke to RT Sport on a number of MMA-related topics. Perhaps the most interesting comment this interview produced occurred when St-Pierre was asked about Russian fighters. This question prompted him to praise undefeated UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters on earth – if not the best outright. “I think actually one of the best pound-for-pound in the world, maybe the best pound-for-pound in the world, is Khabib Nurmagomedov,” St-Pierre said. “I always said it. For me, he’s probably the best pound-for-pound. Unfortunately, I believe people don’t give him enough credit. Maybe because he’s not American, he’s not someone who talks a lot of trash like Conor McGregor, he’s someone who’s very respectful, he doesn’t make a lot of noise by talking. But the same thing, like I said before about me, is that the resume speaks by itself. You know, the guy’s undefeated, he beat everybody. I’m just sad that the fight with [Tony] Ferguson didn’t happen, because it would have been an amazing fight.

bjpenndotcom - April 15, 2017

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is currently gearing up for his highly anticipated Octagon return against Michael Bisping, where he will look to make his successful return to the Octagon and capture the UFC middleweight championship. During an episode of UFC Embedded prior to UFC 209, where Khabib Nurmagomedov was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title, St-Pierre introduced himself to Nurmagomedov, who revealed to fans that his father believes a superfight with Georges St-Pierre is the ultimate fight for ‘The Eagle’. Interestingly enough, St-Pierre posted a photo of himself at dinner with Nurmagomedov in Moscow while in town coaching one of his Tristar teammates in his upcoming MMA fight.

bjpenndotcom - April 4, 2017

UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov recently was forced to pull out of his scheduled UFC 209 interim lightweight title fight after he was hospitalized with issues regarding his liver. While there were conflicting reports regarding Nurmagomedov’s future, with teammate Luke Rockhold informing the media that Nurmagomedov was looking to return soon, while Nurmagomedov’s father reportedly was considering pushing his son to retire.

Russell Ess - April 3, 2017

Many fans were upset when they heard the news that the UFC 209 interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson was canceled a day before the fight was supposed to take place. Numagodemov was admitted into a Las Vegas hospital hours before the weigh-ins were set to take place. According to the UFC’s statement that was released regarding the cancellation of the bout between Numagomedov and Ferguson, “Nurmagomedov was transported to Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center Thursday evening due to weight management medical issues.”

Tom Taylor - April 2, 2017

Back in early March, in the co-main event of UFC 209, undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov was expected to take on streaking rival Tony Ferguson for the UFC interim lightweight title. Regrettably, Nurmagomedov was forced out of this contest at the last minute, as he was hospitalized due to complications resulting from his weight cut. In a recent interview with RT Sport, Nurmagomedov recounted his unfortunate withdrawal from UFC 209.

bjpenndotcom - March 31, 2017

Recently, top ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov was forced out of his UFC 209 co-main event scrap with Tony Ferguson after being unable to make the lightweight title fight limit of 155 pounds. Nurmagomedov was taken to the hospital in the early hours of the morning after enduring a tremendous amount of pain. Ultimately, after Nurmagomedov was pulled from the card for being unable to compete, Tony Ferguson was also pulled from the card. While there were initially no details regarding when Nurmagomedov would be able to return to the Octagon, his father revealed during a recent interview that ‘The Eagle’ was doing “good” health-wise, and had visited several physicians. In addition, it was revealed that ‘The Eagle’ was looking to return for a title fight in August or September, after he finished his observance of Ramadan.