If you watched episode five of UFC 209’s Embedded series, you surely noticed this weight-cutting moment…
Khabib missing weight?
But his tactics were so spot-on… pic.twitter.com/FEVPa9IsDZ
— Pat McCarry (@patmccarry) March 3, 2017
The Dagestani is now officially out of Saturday night’s UFC 209 event in Las Vegas after being rushed to hospital on Friday morning. ‘The Eagle’ did not show for the weigh-ins as he was being treated for weight management medical issues.
Devastating news #UFC209 https://t.co/tfCZXcdVwh
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 3, 2017
The UFC statement has stymied hopes that this could be the pay-per-view event of a slow year so far. While Tyron Woodley’s welterweight title fight against Stephen Thompson is the main event, many would have tuned in to see Nurmagomedov’s interim lightweight title bout with Tony Ferguson.
As it currently stands, Nurmagomedov is out of what would have been the biggest fight of his career. Ferguson may yet take a fight but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Interestingly, ‘El Cucuy’ may well have predicted Nurmagomedov’s weight-cut ails as recently as Wednesday, at the open work-outs.
After the pair had faced off, Ferguson declared:
“Yeah, have fun with that weight cut. Sucking air. Your conditioning sucks.”
Did Ferguson have word about issues with the Nurmagomedov camp or was it just a judgement on his opponent’s size and shape so close to the fight?
Only time may tell. For now, the biggest lightweight fight of the year will have to weight.
