Nurmagomedov team declined interim title fight for UFC 217
Sean Shelby: “A fight was offered to Nurmagomedov on Nov. 4 … I was informed that he could not make that date.”
The pound for pound best fighter in the UFC, Demetrious Johnson, defends his title vs. Ray Borg at UFC 216 on October 7. But it’s just the co-main. In the main event, #2 contender Tony Ferguson fights #7 contender Kevin Lee, who has just two fights against top opponents, a win vs. #10 Michael Chiesa and a loss to #11 Al Iaquinta. It’s not a dream fight.
UFC #1 lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov boasts a perfect 24-0 record. #2 contender Tony Ferguson’s record is if anything even more spectacular. ‘El Cucuy’ is on a nine-fight win streak, and won six performance bonuses in his last five fights. Each of his last three fights was the Fight of the Night. It’s a dream fight.
However, three times Nurmagomedov and Ferguson were contracted to fight, but injuries by both fighters delayed the first two, and a botched weight cut by ‘The Eagle’ canceled the last matchup on fight day. Never the less, the UFC offered Nurmagomedov an interim title shot at UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre on November 4, 2017 at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
��Just to clear things up, a fight was offered to Nurmagomedov on Nov. 4, and at that point, we were trying to put cards together toward the end of the year, said UFC matchmaker Sean Shelby on the UFC’s latest Watch List series, as transcribed by Steven Marrocco for MMAjunkie. I was informed that [Nurmagomedov] could not make that date, and he probably wouldn’t be able to fight until at least December, so that left Tony without a dance partner.
We backed Tony up, and Kevin Lee was there. Look at his resume as of late. He’s a phenomenal fighter. He’s doing fantastic. Right now, I think he’s the hottest thing in the division.
Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have bickered bitterly on Twitter about the fourth fight not happening. Ferguson claimed that Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, had said his fighter wasn’t healthy enough to fight. Nurmagomedov charged that Ferguson wouldn’t say yes. The manager can presumably explain more fully what happened. And in the meantime, kevin Lee is on a five-fight win streak, the last four inside the distance, won performance bonuses in two of the last three, and is fighting for the interim title next weekend.