Dana White: Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson still on, but probably not in United States

Dana White isn’t willing to let the fifth booking of Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson fall by the wayside, even in the face of a worldwide pandemic.

In his first interview since he announced the cancellations of the March 21, March 28, and April 11 UFC events due to the coronavirus outbreak, White said the scheduled April 18 fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will still happen.

“We’re postponing the next three events, but Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib (on) April 18 is still on,” White said on ESPN’s SportsCenter. “That will still happen.”

Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) vs. Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) was originally scheduled to take place at UFC 249 at Barclays Center in the New York borough of Brooklyn. However, due to the recent coronavirus outbreak, the event was pulled from the venue.

In order for the lightweight title fight to happen, White said the UFC will have to make some adjustments. The promotion will comply with any government guidelines, White said. This probably means bringing the fight outside of the United States and not having a crowd.

“We’re going to follow these guidelines to not have more than 10 people in a room,” White said. “We’re hoping this all clears up by April. This fight is going to happen. No crowd – whatever it takes. It probably won’t even be in the United States, but this fight is going to happen.”