The UFC will crown a new interim lightweight champion once again.
After undisputed lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov ended up stuck in Dagestan – and forced out of UFC 249 – due to his home nation’s travel ban, the promotion swiftly found Tony Ferguson a new opponent, in the form of top contender Justin Gaethje.
As well as being a replacement main event, the fight will also feature a replacement title, with UFC president Dana White announcing that Ferguson’s tussle with Gaethje would be for a newly-instituted interim 155-pound title. White said making the replacement matchup was an easy task.
“It’s a no-brainer,” he told ESPN. “You have two of the top guys in the world that everybody felt that if Conor was going to get a shot at Khabib, that actually Gaethje should get it before Conor. It couldn’t have worked out any better. You get Gaethje vs. Tony, it’s the fight that makes sense. It’s two of the top guys in the world. Khabib is out, so the winner will face Khabib.”
Despite seeing his long-awaited matchup with Nurmagomedov fall through for a fifth time, Ferguson was happy to keep things rolling by accepting the replacement matchup, and White paid tribute to “El Cucuy” for his willingness to move on so quickly.
“Tony, I gotta give it to him. He took it well, he took it really well,” said White. “It’s tough when you’re ready to get that fight that you’ve been waiting for, for so long, and it falls out, and I know everybody is going crazy on Khabib, Khabib didn’t do anything wrong.”
The coronavirus outbreak has caused a daily scramble and change of events for the UFC. But, for White, ending up with a high-caliber matchup like Ferguson vs. Gaethje is a great consolation prize. But even though he is moving forward with his new main event, White said he apportions no blame to Nurmagomedov for the chain of events that eventually led to him being unable to fight on Apr. 18.
“If you look at the way the world changed, literally by the day, we got caught up man, and he (Nurmagomedov) ended up getting flown back to Russia,” White said. “He didn’t fly back to Russia, he got flown back to Russia, so it sucks, but what are you gonna do?
“We’re lucky we’re even here, we still got Tony and Gaethje, which is a ridiculous fight. It’s great, it’ll be for the interim title, and we’re all going to have to wait again and try to do this thing in September.”
Despite White saying in the past that he’s done booking the Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson matchup, it appears he’s still willing to set it up again, should Ferguson prevail on Apr. 18.
“People want it so bad, people want to see this fight,” he said. “People want to see this fight, they want to see it happen. Brooklyn sold out in minutes, so it’s the fight that people want to see. Unfortunately, we’re just going to have to wait a little bit longer.”
Dana White says Tony Ferguson vs. Justin Gaethje for an interim title at UFC 249 is a 'no-brainer'
