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It is no secret that being the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov has a target painted on his back. Now that the undefeated champion has confirmed his decision to pull out of the UFC 249 headliner against Tony Ferguson, people are not sparing a single opportunity to aim digs at him, primarily saying that he backed out of the fight because he didn't want to face Ferguson.
This was the fifth time Ferguson and Khabib had been booked to fight each other and believe it or not, it is also the fifth time that the fight got called off. In an Instagram Live video, Nurmagomedov revealed that he was in Russia where there is a travel ban in operation due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. He later confirmed it in another statement on Wednesday.
Former UFC 'champ champ' Conor McGregor has now spoken out on Nurmagomedov's decision to pull out of the PPV, providing his take on how the Dagestani fighter handled the whole situation.
McGregor took to Twitter on Thursday morning to give his opinion on how Nurmagomedov handled the situation. The Irishman said that both Nurmgomedov and Ferguson are playing a game of who 'chickens out' first.
“The fact of the matter is, both Tony and Khabib were engaged in a game of chicken here towards the fight bell, with Khabib chickening out first making it 3-2 in pullouts in Tony’s favour. Khabib scurried out the US to home, and amid the crisis. Very high risk. Congrats, Tony.”
The history between McGregor and Khabib doesn't require any introduction and the bad blood between the pair goes way back to 2017, when Nurmagomedov called out McGregor in a post-fight interview, saying that he would smash him.
When the time came, at UFC 229, the biggest PPV in UFC history till date, the Russian walked the talk and dominated McGregor in a one-sided contest which lasted four rounds before Khabib locked in a neck crank and McGregor tapped.
