UFC president Dana White has signalled at a rematch between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor could take place in 2019.
“I think a lot of people want to see that fight,” White told TMZ. “Obviously, again, we still haven’t gone before the Nevada State Athletic Commission. That’s gotta happen, and when that does we can figure out how this whole thing plays out.
“Is Max [Holloway] moving to 155? Tony Ferguson is obviously in the mix, so we gotta see how this thing plays out.”
“Obviously guys are going to have to win. It depends on how long the suspensions are and things like that, but yeah. As long as everything goes right, this fight should happen.”
As White indicated, Nurmagomedov and McGregor will have to wait and see what punishments they may be handed out by NSAC first, and they are currently set to attend a hearing on January 29th, so we may not have too much longer to wait before we discover what’s going to happen.
Even if they were handed down a relatively short suspension though, White had previously indicated that he believed that Tony Ferguson should get the next shot at Nurmagomedov’s title after racking up 11 wins in a row.
However, Khabib’s manager Ali Abelaziz recently appeared to suggest that they aren’t interested in fighting him next.
“At the end of the day, Khabib doesn’t need to fight anybody else for his legacy,” Abdelaziz said in an interview with MMA Fighting. “He’s done what he’s done. So [we want] the biggest money fight he can make. Boxing, MMA, whatever. I love Tony Ferguson — he’s not that, I can tell you that. One-hundred percent, Tony Ferguson is not the next fight, because Tony Ferguson — I need somebody who can sell pay-per-views.”
