Dana White has laid out a big fight card for the UFC’s return on May 8th, but one man who will be missing from the line-up is lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, who had originally been scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson on the original UFC 249 card back in April before the pandemic threw a spanner in the works.
However, while Justin Gaethje now fights Tony Ferguson in the main event, White has assured fans that Nurmagomedov will go on to defend his title against the winner later this year.
“The Ferguson vs. Gaethje fight is one of the most violent fights you will see,” White told ESPN on Instagram Live. “I can guarantee that. This fight is going to be incredible. The winner will fight Khabib for the title. This is for the interim. 100 percent (the winner fights Khabib).”
With Ramadan now underway, Nurmagomedov is likely to be out of action for a while, and when pressed on when he might fight again, White suggested that it might not be until the fall.
“Khabib will be back in September or October,” White suggested.
The UFC plan on staying busy until then though if their upcoming schedule is anything to go by, with three events set to be crammed into just 8 days from May 9th, starting with the postponed UFC 249 event.
