For the third time Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson’s highly-anticipated lightweight match-up was scrapped when ‘The Eagle’ was hospitalized the day before weigh-ins prior to last night’s (Sat. March 4, 2017) UFC 209 pay-per-view (PPV) card, and was unable to compete in his scheduled interim lightweight title match in the co-main event.
UFC President Dana White commented on Nurmagomedov’s inability to compete on last night’s card, stating that he doesn’t know what the future holds for the Russian grappling specialist (quotes via MMA Junkie):
“To be honest with you, Khabib fought (at UFC 205) in New York in November then here in this fight,” White said. “Two back-to-back weight cuts like that. I don’t know if he can make the weight or if he needs to get a better plan (or) dietician. Something.
“I don’t know (what he should do). He got within six pounds and was in really rough shape. He’s going to have to take some time to recover from this weight cut, and then I don’t know what to do.”
White also criticized Nurmagomedov’s team’s handling of the whole situation in which he was hospitalized. The UFC President claimed the fight may have been able to be saved had ‘The Eagle’s’ team contacted to UFC instead of trying to handle everything on their own:
“So what would have been different is if he had called Dr. (Jeff) Davidson or Briana (Mattison), the two who handle all the medical stuff for the UFC, they would have brought him right to the hospital,” White said. “Apparently he was treated horrible at (Sunrise Hospital & Medical Center in Las Vegas). Shocker here in Vegas; that’s no shock. He should have gone to Valley Hospital (Medical Center). He should have been with (Dr. Davidson, who) would have taken him right in. They would have checked him right in and seen where he was.
“When you walk into just some random hospital here in Las Vegas and they see the guy and they tell him the weight cut, they just start filling him with fluids. That’s immediately what they do. They bring you in, they stick in the IV, and they start. (Dr. Davidson) would have checked his vitals, seen where he was. I’m not saying that the fight could have been saved, but maybe it could have. We’ve been in these positions before. This isn’t our first rodeo.”
White also stated that Nurmagomedov was experiencing pain in his kidney and liver areas, but doesn’t know the full extent of his condition. He did, however, note that it won’t affect Nurmagomedov in the long term, but recovery will take a bit of time:
“He was having pains either where your kidneys are or your liver or something – I don’t know the exact specifics, but he was having pains,” White said. “He looked terrible. I don’t think there was any real damage done to it. When I say damage, I mean longterm. It’s going to take him a little while to recover from this weight cut.”
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