UFC president Dana White says everything has been sorted out with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Last week, an irate Khabib Nurmagomedov threatened to leave the UFC. This strong statement stemmed from the possibility of his friend and training partner Zubaira Tukhugov being cut from the roster because of being involved in the UFC 229 post-fight melee.
“If you decide to fire him, you should know that you’ll lose me too,” an excerpt from Khabib’s post reads. “We never give up on our brothers in Russia and I will go to the end for my Brother. If you still decide to fire him, don’t forget to send me my broken contract, otherwise I’ll break it myself.”
During a recent run-in with TMZ, UFC president Dana White shed some light on this issue. Essentially, he says that everything has been sorted out between him and the undefeated Russian, although it was not made clear if Tukhugov will remain in the roster.
“We’re good,” White told the reporter. “We’re good with Khabib. You guys are still posting that sh-t, that was a week ago. A week ago. A lot happens in a week in this business.”
“We’re good. We worked it out. We’re gonna get everything worked out. Obviously, he was a little upset, he was a little fired up. We’ll get it all worked out.”
“Guys get very emotional, man,” he continued. “That was a very emotional fight for him, obviously. And at the end of the day, Khabib’s a great guy. We’ve always had a great relationship with him.”
From his end, Khabib feels the UFC somehow had a hand in Conor McGregor’s UFC 223 bus attack last April, which led to several injuries and fight cancellations on the said card.
Tukhugov has been pulled from the October 27th UFC Moncton co-main event against Artem Lobov. Michael Johnson is expected to serve as Tukhugov’s replacement.