Khabib Nurmagomedov turns down offer to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 216

Undefeated lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov will not be fighting Tony Ferguson at October’s UFC 216 event in Las Vegas.

TSN Sports Aaron Bronsteter tweeted out the following information earlier today explaining that the Russian sensation was offered an interim lightweight title fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 216, but ultimately turned it down so that he could have more time to prepare.

“Khabib tells @Denis26rt he was offered Ferguson for the interim title at UFC 216, but wanted more time to prepare. Wants to fight at UFC 217.”

Khabib tells @Denis26rt he was offered Ferguson for the interim title at UFC 216, but wanted more time to prepare. Wants to fight at UFC 217 https://t.co/e3lnKfevjF

— Aaron Bronsteter (@aaronbronsteter) July 24, 2017

In an interview with RT.com, Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that he is aiming to fight Tony Ferguson on November 4 in New York, this after turning down an offer to fight “El Cucuy” at UFC 216 on October 7.

“That’s the date I asked UFC for. First they offered me a fight on October 7 (UFC 216), but I couldn’t accept it. I want to prepare well and I don’t want to put my body at risk. I don’t want to make the same mistake and push my body. I had to take care of my health, something I’ve been doing in the last four months. And now I need at least 100 days of hard work to get back in fighting shape.

“The Eagle” continued:

“Now I’m training at 100 percent capacity already. All my media activity is over and I’m going straight to Dagestan for a training camp for a month or a month and a half. Then I’ll go to train in the States for about two months, so I’ll be able to perform at the end of the fall. As I said earlier, we will repeat the same fight again with Tony Ferguson for the belt.”

Khabib and Tony were slated to meet this past April at UFC 209 for the interim lightweight title but the bout was scrapped last minute when Khabib fell ill during his weight cut.

Stay tuned to BJPENN.com for further updates!