What’s the story?
The undefeated Russian Lightweight Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov is 8-0 in his UFC career. Overall, he has a phenomenal MMA record of 24-0. The latest fighter that came into Khabib’s path of destruction was Michael Johnson at UFC 205.
Khabib, with a spectacular undefeated record, surely warrants a title shot. However, Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson too, has an impressive nine-fight winning streak and he also is in line for a title shot himself. There had been talks about a title eliminator fight between the two top contenders.
Ferguson is still awaiting “fair terms” on a new contract with the UFC for the fight to happen.
According to Mmamania.com, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto was told that Khabib who was eager to fight “El Cucuy” has now moved on and is not persistent to fight him anymore. They have also reported that he is now willing to fight the next highest ranked fighter available at UFC 209.
The highest ranked fighter available for UFC 209 is the No. 8 ranked Michael Chiesa.
In case you didn’t know...
Khabib is currently the No. 1 ranked title contender in UFC’s Lightweight division while Ferguson is ranked at No. 2.
After submitting Michael Johnson at UFC 205, Khabib had called out Conor McGregor. McGregor won the Lightweight title the same night by knocking out Eddie Alvarez in the second round.
The heart of the matter
Ferguson has been negotiating his contract with the UFC in hopes of getting a heftier payday. As a result, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fight against “El Cucuy” looks like it may not happen at UFC 209.
Also read: UFC News: Khabib's manager tweets an ultimatum to Tony Ferguson, later deletes it
Alvarez is still recovering from his knockout loss to McGregor, Rafael dos Anjos is moving up in weight, Edson Barboza is booked, Nate Diaz also wants a much bigger pay-cheque. This makes Chiesa the highest ranked fighter available to fight at UFC 209.
What’s next?
Chiesa looks set to try to stop the invincible Russian at UFC 209. Chiesa’s biggest strengths are his grappling and submission skills.
Five of his seven victories in the octagon have come via submission. However, Khabib is easily the best grappler and submission specialist in the 155-pound division. So if they do lock horns it will probably be a grappling fest which suits Khabib’s game plan perfectly.
Sportskeeda’s Take
Apart from dominating dos Anjos and Michael Johnson, Khabib hasn’t really faced high-level competition inside the octagon. A dominating performance and triumph over a top 10 fighter will surely help in silencing a lot of his critics.
This fight suits Khabib’s style of fighting. He is a high-level sambo practitioner and an even better judoka who also has great wrestling skills.
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