Tony Ferguson

By FCF Staff

Now that all signs seem to indicate that Khabib Nurmagomedov will not able to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249, the latter is calling for the lightweight champ to be stripped of his title.

Nurmagomedov recently returned to Dagestan, Russia, from the United States, in advance of a scheduled, April 18th bout with Ferguson. Since then, however, Russia has enacted a travel ban in-and-out of the country due to the coronavirus. As a result, it seems all but certain that the champion will not be able to compete at UFC 249, if the card takes place.

Ferguson recently spoke with ESPN’s Ariel Helwani, and while commenting on the situation, he said this (quote via MMA Mania).

“He had the chance to say here. He was in Abu Dhabi and had the chance to be able to come back before the borders were closed in Russia but he decided to go back to Dagestan. The guy does not want to fight. He’s scared and he should be stripped of his title.”

“I get what he wanted to do, obviously, he is here and his family is back home in Dagestan. He did what he had to do but he had the opportunity and he did the exact same thing as UFC 209,” he added.

“He knew he wasn’t cutting weight very good, he said it already that he was having a hard time cutting weight, focusing and doing everything else. To me that is running away,” proclaimed Ferguson.

“He obviously knew what he could do to help save this card and he didn’t want to take those chances. Everybody’s taking risks, but he bailed out. It’s pretty hard to explain, but he bailed out.”

As this is being written, no new location for UFC 249 has been announced. Originally, the event was supposed to take place in Brooklyn, New York, before public gatherings were temporarily banned in the state (due to the ongoing pandemic).

“The guy does not want to fight. He’s scared, he’s running, he should be stripped of his title.”@TonyFergusonXT gives @arielhelwani his reaction to Khabib's apparent withdrawal from #UFC249 on @SportsCenter pic.twitter.com/B1Sx2gPQq6

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) April 1, 2020