Top ranked UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov knows he has something to prove at UFC 219. No, not that he’s among the elite of the lightweight division. His competitive track record has been fairly well established. Rather, that he can safely get to the lightweight limit and keep taking fights there.
For a fighter who has only missed weight once in his five years with the promotion – against Abel Trujillo back at UFC 160 in 2013 – Nurmagomedov’s struggles getting to 155 are well known. Most notably, coming to light ahead of a planned UFC 209 bout against Tony Ferguson, when the ‘Eagle’ had to be hospitalized due to complications from his weight cut.