White: ‘Vegas Hospital Treated Khabib Horribly’

UFC 209 was cut down a peg when the promotion’s co-main event was cancelled due to one of the competitor’s medical issues.

Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov was set to face Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight championship title in the promotion’s co-main event. Unfortunately, “The Eagle” was not able to make it to the weigh-ins, as he was rushed to the Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas for weight management issues.

The bout was cancelled, leaving many fans confused and disappointed at the event.

During the UFC 209 Post-Fight Press Conference, UFC President Dana White explained that “The Eagle” was potentially not treated as well as he should have been. To White, he probably should have went to a different hospital.

In the post-fight press conference, White explained how Nurmagomedov’s situation could have been handled differently.

“What would’ve been different was if he would’ve called Dr. Davidson or Brianna, the two who handle the medical stuff for the UFC, they would have brought him right to the hospital. Apparently he was treated horribly at Sunrise Hospital, shocker. Here in Vegas that’s no shock, but he should have gone to Valley Hospital. He should have been with Doc D. Doc D would have got him right in. They would have checked his vitals and see where he was. But when you walk into just some random hospital here in Las Vegas, and they see the guy and they tell him he’s cutting weight, they just start filling him full of fluids. I mean that is immediately what they do. They bring you in. They stick in the IV.

“Doc D would have taken him in, checked his vitals and seen what was going on. 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.”

While the fight was clearly not saved, “The Eagle” seems to be in much better shape now. The fighter recently took to Twitter to apologize for the event and to reassure his fans that everything will be okay.