Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0, 8 KOs, 10 SUBs) will defend his title against Tony Ferguson (25-3, 12 KOs, 8 SUBs) at a UFC pay-per-view on Saturday, April 18, 2020 in Brooklyn, New York. The card has yet to be titled and a venue has not been selected yet.
Four times, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were scheduled to meet inside the cage. Each time the MMA world was left disappointed. The last cancellation was particularly cruel, with Ferguson tearing his LCL tripping over a camera cable at a media event. That last sentence still blows my mind.
What makes it even more bizarre is that Dana White had to make the announcement that the fight was cancelled on April Fool’s Day, leading to a tense few hours where everybody was praying that it was all some big joke. Spoiler alert: it wasn’t.
Here’s a brief timeline of their scheduled meetings:
2015, The Ultimate Fighter Season 22 Finale: Nurmagomedov pulls out two months earlier citing a rib injury.
2016, UFC on FOX 19: After taunting Nurmagomedov for his inability to stay healthy, Ferguson backs out on 11 days notice with an illness that caused fluid and blood to collect in his lungs.
2017, UFC 219: Nurmagomedov struggles through a bad weight cut and fails to appear for the weigh-ins. The fight is cancelled one day before it goes down. Notably, the UFC Embedded cameras follow Khabib’s team to a restaurant during fight week, where the Russian appears to eat a big slice of tiramisu - spawning one of Reddit MMA’s most enduring memes.
2018, UFC 222: See above.
I guess there’s a silver lining here: the stakes have only gotten more massive. Both men have yet to lose since they were originally booked years ago, and the 2018 matchup was for the vacant title. This time around, Khabib holds the actual title and will put a flawless 28-0 record on the line against Tony’s 12-fight win streak.
These are the two best lightweights in the world, and any longtime MMA fan will tell you that this is the fight that they’re most excited about. Both guys have looked unstoppable as of late, and their styles make for a compelling clash.
The MMA world is collectively holding its breath. I honestly have no clue what would happen if the fight was cancelled for the fifth time. MMA is still too new of a sport to have a famous curse, but there literally be no other way to explain all the failed attempts to make this happen.
Bet this UFC fight at the online sportsbook
Ok so we got carried away here: let’s take a look at the UFC odds at BookMaker.eu. Our oddsmakers opened with Khabib at -195, with Ferguson at +155 on the comeback. Early bettors quickly jumped on Khabib’s line, driving his price down to -230 while forcing oddsmakers to move Ferguson up to +190.
The logic here is obvious: nobody has figured out how to stop Khabib’s wrestling. Ferguson’s one weakness is stopping dominant wrestlers. Kevin Lee was able to take him down before gassing out, and Khabib is on another level when it comes to wrestling - and he’s armed with better conditioning.
But have you seen the faces of Tony Ferguson’s last nine opponents? There’s Anthony Pettis with blood all over his face. Donald Cerrone has his eye completely swollen shut. Kevin Lee’s nose is leaking blood. Can he put the hurt on a guy that has only lost one round in his entire UFC career? We’ve never seen Khabib remotely in any trouble, which is what makes this so compelling.
Ferguson is a live ‘dog and an interesting bet if he goes above +200. If you’re sure Khabib takes this, we’d recommend you making that bet in the online sportsbook sooner than later. As the early action indicates, his line should only get more expensive from here on out. You can always wait until fight week when prop bets release, and we’ll have a detailed betting guide with our predictions as well.
Bet UFC odds at BookMaker.eu now!
