There is major concern right now regarding the UFC interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson. Russian media outlet Izvestia reported that Khabib was hospitalized just hours before the official weigh-ins for UFC 209 (which are underway as of this writing, and will end at 2 PM ET). As Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan noted on Twitter, the report has not yet been confirmed.
There is no word yet on what that means for the status of Khabib remaining on the card, but manager Ali Abdel-Aziz declined comment when asked about the report by ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Reached out to Nurmagomedov’s manager just now. He declined to comment on this report. https://t.co/nR8lcdZqWa
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 3, 2017
“Yes, Khabib was taken to hospital,” Abdulmanap said to Izvestia, “but it happened before weigh-ins by three hours so he may be okay.”
The previous two times the UFC booked Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson, the fight had to be cancelled. Khabib had pulled out with a rib injury ahead of their December 2015 matchup, then Ferguson withdrew from their UFC on FOX main event last April after his doctor confirmed that he had fluid and blood in his lung.
Meanwhile, Ferguson has already weighed in, coming in at 154.5 lbs. We now all await to see what happens with Khabib.
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