UFC News: Reason why Tony Ferguson and his team are flying to meet Dana White and UFC

R. Nath
UFC 229 Khabib v McGregor: Weigh-Ins
UFC 229 Khabib v McGregor: Weigh-Ins

Khabib Nurmagomedov's father Abdulmanap revealed on Instagram that the UFC Lightweight Champion has officially signed the contract for his fight against Tony Ferguson on April 18th at Brooklyn, New York.

Usually, when such announcements are made, it's to pressure the other side to sign quickly. Before Abdulmanap's announcement, ESPN's Brett Okamoto had stated that Ferguson was the only one left to sign the contract and that still appears to be the case.

He is, however, still interested in the fight and the Lightweight Championship bout is expected to headline the Barclays Center on April 18th - the same month and venue as their scheduled bout last year that was canceled. Many are hoping that fifth time is the charm and Khabib's manager Ali Abdelaziz said exactly that.

Brett Okamoto tweeted out that Tony Ferguson and his reps are heading to Las Vegas to discuss the Khabib Nurmagomedov deal in person.

There may be a few things that Tony Ferguson and his team haven't worked out with the UFC, with the answer most likely being money and bonuses. According to Dana White, Khabib Nurmagomedov has replaced Conor McGregor as "the guy", though the PPV numbers on January 18th and April 18th will tell the story. McGregor may not be in a title fight, but his return after 14 months will undoubtedly be a highly-anticipated one.

As for Nurmagomedov, it's not controversial to argue that his fight against Tony Ferguson is the most anticipated in all of MMA today. The fact that it's been cancelled four times before has only made fans want it more and hopefully, we'll be able to see it this coming April.

There should be no concerns over a falling-out contract-wise as Tony Ferguson is very interested in this. He even posted an update on Instagram.

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Edited by Alan John