Dana White last night confirmed another big fight for the already stellar UFC 195 fight card in New York City on November 12th, with Khabib Nurmagomedov set to fight Michael Johnson.
This is clearly a move to at least partially appease Nurmagomedov, who White had claimed last week was going to be fighting Eddie Alvarez for the lightweight title at the Madison Square Garden show, only to then announce this week that it would in fact be Conor McGregor who would get the shot.
That snub left Nurmagomedov feeling as if he’d been used as a pawn in a bigger game, but nonetheless, he’s vowed to keep fighting his way to the top, and so a spot on arguably the most stacked UFC card of all time is a good place to start.
Nurmagomedov could scarcely have done more in his MMA career to date to justify a title shot, holding a perfect 23-0 record, including seven wins in a row so far inside the Octagon.
The only issue for the Russian has been frequent injuries, which means that his upcoming fight will be just his second in the past two and a half years.
As for Johnson, he currently occupies the No.6 spot in the lightweight rankings after coming off a big first round KO win over Dustin Poirier less than a fortnight ago.
That brought an end to a two-fight losing streak for ‘Mac The Menace’, who’s overall UFC record stands at 9-6.
UFC 205 now has an embarassment of riches, with Nurmagomedov Vs Johnson joining a card that features no less than three titles, with Alvarez defending the lightweight title against Conor McGregor in the main event, welterweight champ Tyron Woodley taking on Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson and woman’s strawweight kingpin Joanna Jędrzejczyk fighting fellow Polish standout Karolina Kowalkiewicz.
That’s not all though, as the entire line-up runs deep, with the likes of Chris Weidman Vs Yoel Romero, Rashad Evans Vs Tim Kennedy, Donald Cerrone Vs Kelvin Gastelum, Frankie Edgar Vs Jeremy Stephens and more making this a fitting debut for the promotion in NYC.
