If it felt like it was too good to be true it was finally happening, that may unfortunately be the case – again.
Rumors surfaced this morning form Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan (via BJPenn.com) that Russian media reported No. 1-ranked lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov had been taken to the hospital prior to the early weigh-ins for his highly anticipated interim lightweight title fight versus Tony Ferguson:
Russian media reporting Khabib was taken to hospital three hours before the weigh-ins. Izvestia reported news after speaking to his father
— Karim Zidan (@ZidanSports) March 3, 2017
ESPN’s Brett Okamoto also attempted to confirm the report, but received no confirmation from Khabib’s camp:
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
Finally, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani acknowledged the report during the official early weigh-ins, also noting the reports could not be confirmed as of yet.
The anticipated bout has been booked several times before only to fall apart due to an injury of some sort to one of the two, and if these reports indeed prove true, it would seem the latest withdrawal would signify the pivotal fight is just not supposed to happen. This time it was for a title, even if it was an interim one, however.
Stay tuned for updates about the messy situation in the hours to follow.
The post Rumor: Khabib Nurmagomedov Taken To Hospital Before UFC 209 appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.