Nurmagomedov (photo via YouTube)

By FCF Staff

When it became clear Khabib Nurmagomedov was not going to be able to leave Russia to fight Tony Ferguson on April 18th, some people criticized the champ for what transpired. But, recently Dana White relayed he and others hold responsibility for how the fight fell apart.

After Nurmagomedov was stranded in Russia due to a coronavirus travel ban, the star reported he had left the U.S., because his team believed UFC 249 would take place in the United Arab Emirates.

Ultimately, UFC 249 did not take place on April 18th due to the pandemic, and it’s being held tomorrow in Jacksonville, Florida.

While talking about Nurmagomedov’s withdrawal with BT Sport, White recently said this (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“I’m sure you saw today, Khabib posted, ‘Hey, as soon as Ramadan is over, I’m ready to roll,’” White said. “There was a lot of questioning Khabib, people were saying ‘Oh he got trapped in Russia’ or whatever; what he said is absolutely true. None of us saw coming what happened and how fast it was rapidly changing and the world was literally changing by the day. We all made some bad decisions that got him stuck in Moscow. It wasn’t just him, we all did. I take responsibility for that too.

“It happened, and you know what we get out of that? We get Gaethje versus Ferguson, which is gonna be absolutely ridiculous.”

Ferguson and Gaethje are going to fight for an interim lightweight title in Saturday’s headliner. The winner is expected to face Nurmagomedov later this year.