Just in case you didn’t think the card for UFC 205 was big enough, Dana White decided to drop another bombshell.
With the Madison Square Garden crowd putting their questions to the likes of Conor McGregor and Eddie Alvarez, the UFC president casually decided to mention that two more names have joined the card for the first UFC event in New York.
Michael Johnson will face Khabib Nurmagomedov at MSG on November 12, with White announcing the bout with a throwaway “How the hell did I forget that?”
Dana just announced Khabib vs. Michael Johnson has been added, said its the biggest card in history.
— Dave Meltzer (@davemeltzerWON) September 27, 2016
Nurmagomedov had been considered by some as a likely opponent for Alvarez before his headline bout with McGregor was announced, but seemed resigned to the outcome before the 155lb title bout was announced.
Victory for the undefeated Russian over Johnson, who goes into the bout with a 17-10 career record after scoring a first-round KO of Dustin Poirier in Texas just over a week ago would surely earn him the title shot he so craves.
The huge card already includes Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title defence against Stephen Thompson and a women’s strawweight title bout between Joanna Jędrzejczyk and Karolina Kowalkiewicz, plus Chris Weidman v Yoel Romero and Donald Cerrone v Kelvin Gastelum.
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