UFC 209 has suffered a huge blow on the eve of the Las Vegas show as news emerges that the co-main event interim lightweight title fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson has been cancelled.
Nurmagomedov is believed to have suffered a bad weight cut that resulted in him being taken to hospital and as a result the bout has had to be scrapped.
This news definitely stings as Nurmagomedov and Ferguson had often overshadowed the main event welterweight title rematch between Tyron Woodley and Stephen Thompson as the fight that fans were most interested in seeing, and it’s not hard to see why.
After all, Nurmagomedov is on an eight-fight winning streak, while Ferguson has gone one better with nine straight victories, and together with the trash-talking between them, Nurmagomedov’s popularity amongst fans, and the potential that the winner could face lightweight champion Conor McGregor making this a must-watch encounter.
It’s not clear at this stage how the UFC will shuffle the pack to make up for this fight cancelation.
Rashad Evans Vs Dan Kelly is the next fight on the list and potentially could be pushed to co-main event duties, but perhaps putting the main card opener between Alistair Overeem and Mark Hunt would make more sense?
The UFC will also have to come up with a fifth fight to include on the main card, and there’s no obvious choices in the prelims, with Darren Elkins Vs Mirsad Bektic or Iuri Alcantara Vs Luke Sanders being amongst the choices available to them.
