Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov were just a few days removed from a UFC 223 conference call that was more of a trash talking session than a Q&A between fighters and reporters.
While the exchange was cringe worth at times, it helped set the stage for what was undoubtedly going to be one of the best fights of 2018.
Then disaster struck on Sunday, as the promotion announced that Ferguson would be forced to withdraw from Saturday’s headliner due to a knee injury. Four times the UFC has tried to book Ferguson against Nurmagomedov, and four times — for various reasons — it has failed.