UFC: Dana White ‘afraid what will happen next’ if he makes Khabib vs Tony Ferguson again

It could be a while before Dana White tries to book Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov again.

Even if Ferguson beats Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title at UFC 249 on May 9, UFC president White admitted he is a little hesitant to try to make the match-up for a sixth time.

The latest attempt at booking MMA fans’ dream fight was curtailed by a global pandemic, of all things, after injuries and weight cut issues on both sides had scuppered it four times since 2015.

Asked in a Reddit AMA (ask me anything) on r/MMA how confident he was that Ferguson and UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov would fight at some point this year, White was blunt.

“Not very,” he said. “I’m afraid of what will happen next if we try to make that fight happen again.”

“Tony’s ready to fight. Gaethje is one of the best in the world. This fight needs to happen. Last thing anyone needs to do is keep waiting for Tony vs Khabib,” White replied to another question.

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But when he was asked by another fan on Reddit what was the biggest fight he never got to host, he said: “It’s gotta be Tony Khabib.”

The Russian was set to fight Ferguson in Brooklyn on April 18 before the pandemic escalated. The UFC scrambled to find a new venue for the event outside the US, and Nurmgomedov ended up stranded in Dagestan with Russia in lockdown. The event was postponed altogether after a bid to host it at Tachi Palace Casino on tribal land in Northern California was nixed by ESPN and Disney, at the behest of governor Gavin Newsom.

Nurmagomedov will return later this year and it sounds like a rematch with Conor McGregor could be on the cards.

“I know everybody is gonna go ‘isn’t he awesome’ but it’s true. I would have to say Conor-Khabib,” said White, when asked on Reddit what rematch he wants the most. “Conor wants that rematch so bad and I would love to see it.”