For the fifth time, a planned match between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson has fallen through. UFC matchmakers tried to book them when they were rising lightweight contenders on the way up. They tried to book them for the interim UFC championship. They tried to book them for the lineal UFC championship. Still, a fight between them has yet to materialize. The issues separating them have gone like this: rib injury, pulmonary edema, botched weight cut, freak knee injury caused by television cable, worldwide pandemic. The barriers have gotten progressively stranger to the point you wonder if another attempt at matching them up may inadvertently launch World War III.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s measured decision to skip UFC 249 is totally justified
