UFC 249 is back on, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson is not

Soon after its postponement due to COVID-19, UFC 249 is now officially again on. It was announced on April 21st that the advertising has been moved to May 9th, and will be held in Jacksonville, Florida. Nonetheless, it is not the considerably-predicted battle in between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson that lovers have been waiting around for. As an alternative, Tony will be up towards Justin Gaethje at UFC 249.

In the beginning, Khabib Nurmagomedov was anticipated to go up in opposition to Tony Ferguson to make the 3rd protection of his UFC Light-weight Championship at this celebration. On the other hand, he experienced to pull out owing to vacation limitations connected to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Nurmagomedov-Ferguson fight has arrive to be identified as the most cursed match in the heritage of fight sports. This is the fifth time this fight has been scheduled, and then not taken area, in five several years. The previous cases of the bout between the two finest lightweights in the planet becoming shelved are:

 — 2015: The Supreme Fighter 22 Finale: canceled when Khabib bowed out thanks to a rib injuries.

 — 2016: UFC on Fox 19: canceled when Tony withdrew eleven times before the struggle because of to a lung concern.

— 2017: UFC 209: canceled when Khabib was hospitalized because of complications with cutting fat.

— 2018: UFC 223: canceled when Tony tripped around a cable and tore his lateral collateral ligament, demanding surgical procedure.

This brings us up to date with UFC 249 going on in 2020. Khabib Nurmagomedov was to confront Tony Ferguson for the UFC Light-weight Championship. Both are on 12 fight winning streaks in the UFC, each are amongst the prime 10 pound for pound fighters in the world, and both of those are amid the biggest lightweights of all time. And now the match has been canceled, yet again, for the fifth time, because of to a pandemic that no a single noticed coming.