Prior to the outright cancelation of UFC 249 on Thursday afternoon, much of the blame for the altered main event was placed on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s shoulders. When it became evidently clear that the UFC lightweight champion was stranded in Dagestan and unable to leave due to tightened travel restrictions, an outpouring of fans and fighters took to social media to criticize the champion’s decision to return to Russia ahead of the scheduled PPV event in the United States. This included Nurmagomedov’s expected opponent, Tony Ferguson, who called his longtime rival a “chicken” who was “hiding in Russia.
Monson: Khabib could have asked Putin’s permission to leave Russia for UFC 249
