UFC top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim champion Tony Ferguson have been scheduled to face off against each other on multiple occasions. Having been booked in 2015, 2016 and 2017, the two mixed martial arts warriors have yet to face off inside the octagon.
Following missed weights and injuries, “El Cucuy” and Nurmagomedov have now been locked in to face off for the undisputed lightweight title at UFC 223. The event goes down April 7 inside the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York and will be featured live on pay-per-view.
With that in mind, former UFC lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez thinks the fight may still not happen. Speaking to Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour, Alvarez offered his thoughts on the match up.
“What’s going on is: This fight is 0-for-3. They’re not going to strip Conor of a belt, then have a vacant title for a fight that’s 0-for-3. They have not been able to make this fight. Every time they book it, they’re not able to make the fight. Either Khabib gets hurt or Tony gets hurt or someone gets hurt. So I think what the UFC’s thinking is — this is a theory, it’s just an opinion on my part — this fight is not going to happen.
“It’s a very unlikely chance that it’s going to happen, so they’re not going to strip the champion and then have this fight fall through and not have a champion. So, I think the day of weigh-ins, they’re going to strip [McGregor]. It’s going to make real big news, and they’re going to have a title fight and it’s also going to make big news. So it’s going to make for a lot of publicity in one day, and that’s my theory.”
The former champion then revealed that he believes he may end up facing one of the two competitors.
“I’m probably still going to end up fighting one of those guys. That fight probably is going to get scrapped. They’re 0-for-3 there, so somebody might get scrapped, so I’ll be ready for that.”
“They want to re-sign. We haven’t gotten to that agreement yet, but I’m sure we will. I have a good rapport with everybody there, and we’re definitely going to sit down and come to an agreement, but for me it’s really about what this next fight is, who it’s going to be, whether it’s Tony or Khabib, whether one of those guys drop out and I step right in, or whether Nate wants to do something in the meantime, or whatever, or whether I’m just helping Frankie (Edgar) get ready for Max (Holloway).
“I’m sitting here idle, and May or June just sounds like a damn good date to me.”
