Photo by Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images
A lightweight championship bout between current UFC titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov and top contender Tony Ferguson is finally signed, sealed, and delivered.
After Nurmgomedov signed his contract earlier in the week to fight Ferguson on April 18 in Brooklyn, New York, “El Cucuy” flew to Las Vegas to discuss his side of things with Dana White and UFC brass. After Friday night’s table talk, Ferguson has agreed to terms and is officially signed on to fight “Eagle” this April.
Ferguson’s management team, Ballengee Group, broke the news to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto.
Let’s put this one in bubblewrap until April, shall we? (via @bokamotoespn) pic.twitter.com/hbAkFZKCg6
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 30, 2019
For now, fight fans are able to breathe a sigh of relief. This matchup between Khabib and Ferguson has been a long-time coming and needed to be the next fight for each lightweight star. But considering this is the fifth time this fight has been scheduled — with the other four falling apart due to injury or botched weight cuts — something can still go wrong between now and April.
Keep your fingers crossed, fight fans!
As far as the fight itself, this is a huge opportunity for both men heading into the first half of 2020. For Khabib, this will his chance to improve his undefeated professional MMA record to 29-0, defeat one of the most accomplished lightweight contenders of the past five years, and prove that he is the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world today.
For Ferguson, this is his opportunity to cash in on a ridiculous 12-fight win streak (which includes nine stoppages), take out one of the most dominant UFC champions of all time, and finally capture his first UFC title.
Pretty exciting stuff.