Khabib Nurmagomedov was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital less than 24 hours before fight night, which led to his fight against Tony Ferguson being cancelled. No clear cut reason was given, but it was believed to have been rooted to weight cutting issues.
According to UFC president Dana White, Nurmagomedov’s team could have handled the situation better, and “The Eagle” could have ended up fighting and taking home $500,000.
“What would’ve been different was if he would’ve called Dr. (Jeff) Davidson or Brianna (Mattison), the two who handle the medical stuff for the UFC,” White said during the UFC 209 press conference. “Apparently, he was treated horribly at Sunrise Hospital. That’s no shock. He should’ve gone to Valley Hospital, he should’ve been with Doc D, Doc D would’ve got him right in. They would’ve checked his vitals; they would’ve seen where he was.”
“But when you walk into some random hospital here in Las Vegas, and they see the guy, they just start filling him full of fluids. That’s immediately what they do. They bring you in, they stick in the IV.”
White says that if Khabib’s team followed such a procedure, there was a chance for the fight to be saved.
“I’m not saying the fight could’ve been saved, but maybe it could’ve.”
For his part, Khabib gave an update on his current health situation via Instagram.
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