Video: Reminders of why most of you want Khabib vs. Ferguson to happen at UFC 249

The MMA world mostly is at a standstill right now thanks to – and stop us if you’ve heard this one lately – the global coronavirus pandemic.

The UFC postponed its planned show for this past Saturday in London the week of the event and pushed back its next two planned shows in Columbus, Ohio, and Portland, Ore., with no new dates scheduled. Nine days ago, Bellator scrapped its event in Connecticut on the day of the fight with just a few hours’ notice.

By and large, fans seem to be on board with what’s going on. After all, what other choice do any of us have? Much of the world has completely shut down in an effort to contain the virus’ outbreak, and that includes MMA – for now, anyway.

And while most fans probably can survive if they have to wait for Tyron Woodley vs. Leon Edwards, Alistair Overeem vs. Walt Harris or even Francis Ngannou vs. Jairzinho Rozenstruik – though there certainly were title implications there – it’s perhaps been a different story when it comes to the scheduled main event for UFC 249.

UFC 249 was set for April 18 at Barclays Center in the New York borough of Brooklyn. But large gatherings won’t be back on by then, so Brooklyn is out. The card needs a home, and the UFC isn’t yet sure if doing it at its Apex facility in Las Vegas will be possible since the Nevada Athletic Commission currently has suspended all fighter licenses. It is set to meet Wednesday to figure out the next step, but it’s quite likely Vegas is off the table, too.

What we do know is that UFC president Dana White is on record saying he’s committed to making, at the very least, the main event between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) and challenger Tony Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC). He even posted a fan-made poster to imply the UFC would hold the show on the moon if it had to.

It’s evidence of the interest in the fight itself, which has become known as arguably the most talked about fight in MMA history to still never happen. It’s been booked four times, and four times it’s been scrapped – with the reasons falling twice on each side.

The mere thought of the fifth time falling apart, too, has been enough to drive fans batty – and White might as well be counted in that group.

“We’re postponing the next three events, but Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib (on) April 18 is still on,” White said on ESPN’s “SportsCenter” this past week. “That will still happen. We’re going to follow these guidelines to not have more than 10 people in a room. 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.”

From all appearances, White and the UFC seem to be pot committed to keeping what could be one of its most lucrative pay-per-view events of the year on schedule, even if there’s no publicly announced plan in place yet.

For now, things still may be up in the air. But we know one thing: People want to see the fight finally happen, which is why the UFC hasn’t been willing to chalk it up on the same postponement list with the others yet.

Will it happen as planned April 18, be it behind closed doors in Vegas, behind closed doors out of the country, or (we kid, but …) behind closed doors on the moon? Time will tell.

But until then, refresh your memory in the video above for part of why this has heretofore been a fantasy matchup that most fans hope still becomes a reality.