Off Guard: Ali Abdelaziz says getting Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson done was easy for UFC 249

The stakes may be a lot higher in the fifth attempt to book the Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson fight, but Ali Abdelaziz says the process was smooth sailing.

UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) will defend his title against Tony Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a matchup that has been a long time coming.

“It’s easy,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “Khabib has a really good contract. His job is to defend his belt against the best of the best. I feel like Khabib, 28-0, undefeated, 12-0 in the UFC, Tony’s (won 12 in a row) – I believe Tony is the right guy. He deserves it. He earned it. He’s been asking for this ass whooping for a long time. They should have fought five times.

“It was March or April, that was the date, and we thought Brooklyn – it’s a good place to have the fight. The UFC was an easy process – no problem. We got it done. I know Tony had a little bit of a hiccup, but his team and him got it done, too. I think it’s all good. The fight is happening.”

Nurmagomedov won the vacant 155-pound title at UFC 223 in Brooklyn when he beat Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision. He was initially scheduled to face Ferguson, but a freak accident forced Ferguson out the fight.

Both Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have been forced to pull out twice each in their four previously scheduled bouts. Abdelaziz thinks the long journey, and how far both fighters have come, is what makes this fight even bigger.

“You cannot find a better story, a better fight, better – just a pure martial art form of fight than this fight.”