Lightweight No.1 contender Khabib Nurmagomedov has issued a statement apologizing for his withdrawal from his UFC 209 fight with Tony Ferguson, which came after he fell ill and was taken to hospital during a tough weight late last week.
“Whoever you are or whatever you do, you’ll get only what God prescribed for you,” Nurmagomedov wrote on Instagram.
“AlhamduliLlah for everything God gifted me for my 28 years, I got much more than I asked. I know that many people was waiting for this fight and I fail them.
Want to bring my apologies for all my fans, UFC and my opponent Tony.
My health is fine now, thanks God. These tough testing only makes me stronger.
Thank everyone for the support.”
So, Nurmagomedov appears to be in good spirits, but financially pulling out of the fight was a massive blow for him as it’s been reported that he was due to receive $500,000 to show on Saturday night, an astronomical increase from his previous $26,000 to show + $26,000 to win pay structure in the UFC.
Meanwhile, though his opponent Tony Ferguson was said to be “devastated” when informed that the fight had been cancelled, the blow has been softened somewhat by the fact that he will by paid his show money, which is reportedly $250,000, though he misses out on the chance to earn a further $250,000 if he’d won.
As for what comes next, there is a school of thought that Ferguson could now be in pole position to fight McGregor next due to Nurmagomedov’s weight cut issues.
On the other hand, assuming Nurmagomedov is healthy the UFC may just look to reschedule his fight with Ferguson for one of their upcoming pay-per-view shows, such as UFC 210 in April and UFC 211 a month later.
