Khabib announces that he is out of fight with Ferguson April 18th

Khabib Nurmagomedov took to Instagram to formerly announce that he will not be fighting Tony Ferguson on April 18^th. 

In an Instagram post, Nurmogomedov stated that “the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight?”  The post seemed to address issues that he was using the pandemic as a way to get out of the fight with Tony Ferguson.

View this post on Instagram

Staying home in quarantine and reading the reaction of people to the situation around my fight, it turns out that the whole world should be in quarantine, governments of all countries, famous people around the world urge people to follow all safety requirements in order to limit the spread of the disease, to save people, and Khabib is the only one relieved of all obligations and must demonstrate free will and train flying around the world, for the sake of fight? – I understand everything and I’m definitely upset more than you to cancel the fight, probably like all others, I had many plans after the fight, but I can’t control it all. The greatest countries and the largest companies of our time are shocked by what is happening, every day the situation changes unpredictably. But Khabib still has to fight, is that what you saying? – Take care of yourself and put yourself in my shoes. – 📍 Сижу дома на карантине и читаю реакцию людей на ситуацию вокруг моего боя, получается весь мир должен сидеть на карантине, правительства всех стран и известные люди всего мира призывают людей соблюдать требования безопасности, чтоб ограничить распространение болезни ради спасения людей, а Хабиб, освобождён от всех обязательств и должен демонстрировать свободу воли и тренироваться летая по всему миру рискуя своей жизнью ради боя ? – Я все понимаю и точно не меньше вас расстроен отменой боя, наверно у меня , как и у всех других, было много планов после боя, но я не в силах контролировать все это. Сверх державы и крупнейшие компании нашего времени в шоке от того, что происходит, каждый день ситуация меняется непредсказуемо. Но Хабиб все равно должен драться, так получается? – Берегите себя и поставьте себя на мое место.

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Apr 1, 2020 at 12:02pm PDT

Ferguson claimed that Khabib does not want to fight and that he is scared of Ferguson.  He also lobbied that Nurmogomedov should be stripped of his title.

Payout Perspective:

I’m not sure that Ferguson believes that Khabib is scared of him or does not want to fight.  With Bellator postponing all of its events in May, and the rest of the world under lockdown, it makes no sense for UFC 249 to take place.  Nurmogomedov cannot leave Russia due to the current travel ban and it makes no sense for the promotion to risk the lives and well-being of those willing to hold a fight for the sake of running an event.  With the uncertainty of the pandemic, it would be prudent to follow Khabib’s example and stay at home.