The date is set for the highly-anticipated showdown between two of the biggest lightweight stars in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson.
The undisputed king of the 155 pounds will defend his throne against the number one contender, Ferguson, in the main event of April 18 2020 fight card, according to a report from ESPN.
Nurmagomedov, who remains undefeated in 28 professional bouts, is coming off a submission win against Dustin Poirier to unify the lightweight titles.
It was his 12th straight win in the UFC, tying Ferguson for the most active winning streak in the lightweight division.
Meanwhile, ‘El Cucuy’ has only lost three times in 28 fights, while his most recent win came last June, defeating Donald Cerrone via doctor stoppage.
MMA fans are hoping that both fighters will make it to the April fight, following a series of pullouts that happened in the past.
Fifth Time Is The Charm?
The lightweight pair has been booked for four times, but each fighter has pulled out twice because of injures and health issues.
Ferguson had to fight Edson Barboza in 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale after Nurmagomedov sustained an injury in October.
Scrapped for the second time, the American fighter pulled out of UFC on Fox 19 due to lung issue.
With the interim championship on the line, the pair was tapped to headline UFC 209 but the Russian had some health issues brought by weight cutting.
In April 2018, Ferguson withdraw from his scheduled UFC 223 showdown with Khabib after tearing his fibular collateral ligament.
“BREAKING NEWS: Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is the works for April 18 in Brooklyn,” wrote MMA journalist, Chisanga Malata.
“They’ve been scheduled to fight four times already, let’s hope fifth time is the charm.”
“I’m crossing absolutely everything and praying to all the MMA gods for this to happen.”
Signed
Khabib’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, has taken to Twitter to inform the MMA world that Khabib has signed the dotted line for the April 2020 fight.
“Here we go. The champ signed his bout agreement against Tony Ferguson.”
“This man has been asking for this a** whooping and now he has earned it.”
“April 18th the eagle will land in Brooklyn one more time. This one is for the fans.”
“To be clear, nobody is sleeping on Tony Ferguson. He is on a 12-fight winning streak for a reason.”
“We will have the best training camp and we will have faith in Allah for both guys to stay healthy.”
“Let’s do this. EAGLE TIME. KHABIB TIME.”
Will Khabib Nurmagomedov win his third straight title-defence?
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov)