The UFC signed off on a major lightweight fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Donald Cerrone yesterday, only for the bout to then be cancelled minutes later due to an injury.
After his head kick KO win over Jim Miller on Wednesday night at UFC Fight Night 45, Cerrone had indicated he’d be willing to fight Nurmagomedov next and the UFC were quick to take him up on that offer, targeting UFC 178 for the showdown between them.
However, according to UFC president Dana White, literally just 20 minutes after the deal was agreed, Nurmagomedov “blew his knee out” in training and the fight was immediately scrapped.
At this stage there’s no indication on the extent of the injury, but White indicated that it was serious enough that there was no way that the fight could just be postponed until a later date.
It’s an unfortunate situation as this would have been an important fight for the division, with Nurmagomedov currently ranked No.4 in the division, while Cerrone is just one place behind him at No.5.
Nurmagomedov’s six fight unbeaten run in the UFC thus far has been so far that White has often said – only half-joking – that the rest of the division is running scared from him.
Cerrone apparently had no such fears though, and his confidence is certainly running high right now after four victories in a row – all coming within the space of eight months.
Given his eagerness to compete in the cage it’s unlikely that ‘Cowboy’ will have to wait long before the UFC comes up with a different opponent for him, though there’s no suggestion at this stage that they are still looking to place him on the UFC 178 fight card.
