Fans blame Ukraine war for Khabib Nurmagomedov's Eagle FC not hosting U.S. events since May 2022

Khabib Nurmagomedov's promotion Eagle FC held its last event on U.S. soil in Miami, Florida, on May 20, 2022. Since then, the promotion has held events only in Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan with no mention of future plans in America. Fans of MMA conspired that the promotion's absence from the United States was due to the continuing conflict in Ukraine.

Khabib Nurmagomedov acquired the Russian MMA promotion Gorilla Fighting Championship (previously known as Federation of MMA of Samara) and renamed it Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC) in November 2020 for $1 million. The fact that Nurmagomedov once publicly stated that gaining popularity in the United States is crucial for ascending to the top adds to the puzzle surrounding why the promotion does not host US events.

James Lynch, an MMA journalist, explored the hot topic of conversation on his YouTube channel. He brought up Kevin Lee and Yorgan De Castro's statements that placed doubt on the organization's future objectives in the United States.

Check out the video below:

Several MMA fans commented on the YouTube video with their suspicions of what may have caused the organization to pivot. One fan surmised that Russia's ongoing war with Ukraine might be the reason why they haven't returned to action in the US:

"A combination of things. The war making it more difficult for fighters to get visas. Khabib’s coaching career taking up more of his time, Islam & Usman winning the title, JDS getting injured and the Fedor fight falling through. I do agree it is strange hopefully we get an update soon."

Another fan speculated that Eagle FC is perhaps a money-laundering scheme, although there is no substantial evidence to back the claims:

"Money laundering has been hard with so much scrutiny on mma. Considering Eagle FC is more of a money laundering company than an MMA promotion, they have not been able to do that much in the west."

Yet another fan noted that the escalating FTX Trading Ltd. crisis, bankruptcy, and unauthorized transactions could be linked to the promotion's hiatus. Eagle FC's first two events were conducted at the FTX Arena in Miami:

"FTX was there main sponsor and after all the debacle FTX has went through in this year, it is not surprising they had to drop the US events as the needed funds were not available anymore."

Check out the comments below:

Fan reactions under James Lynch's YouTube video

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Chael Sonnen suggests Eagle FC star to face Shavkat Rakhmonov

Shavkat Rakhmonov was dealt a major setback when Geoff Neal was forced to withdraw from their impending bout at UFC 67 in Las Vegas.

Bryan Barberena offered to step in as a replacement, however, the UFC declined. Chael Sonnen played matchmaker and named Kevin Lee as a viable option to face Rakhmonov. Lee signed with Eagle FC on December 15, 2021, and has fought once for the promotion.

Speaking on his YouTube channel, Sonnen stated:

"If Kevin Lee is willing to go in there and fight Rakhmonov and nobody else is, I hope that he's considered for the opportunity. I think it's an interesting proposition. I don't know that there's a better idea, I don't know that by the time I make this piece and get it to you guys or even by the time the event rolls around in a couple of weeks, I don't know if Rakhmonov is going to stay on the card because I don't know of a guy that I can think of that would step in and face him."

Check out Sonnen's comments below: