Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov suppose to fight at UFC 209, which was officially scratched off from pay per view due to of Khabib’s injury. Newly interim lightweight champ Ferguson is moved on and has an eye for a title unification bout with Conor Mcgregor. Now it looks like UFC is trying to move on as well. Recently UFC offered Edson Barboza a fight with Khabib, which he accepted and now awaited on Khabib to sign the deal.
Brazilian strikeforce Edson (19-4 MMA, 13-4 UFC) recently recovered from a shoulder injury and has been cleared to fight, targeting a UFC 219 against “The Eagle” (24-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) on December 30 in Las Vegas said on Instagram live stream on Tuesday.
On Monday Nurmagomedov said via MMA Hour that his priority is Tony Ferguson fight, he would take Barboza next if he is booked against Mcgregor.
“I want to fight as soon as possible, man,” Barboza said. “I told my manager I’m good to go, and now I’m waiting. I had a complicated moment with the shoulder injury, but now I’m 100 percent ready, just waiting for someone to accept to fight me.”
“They offered me this fight and I accepted it,” Barboza said. “I said I’ll be ready for December 30, and it’s on him now. We’ll see what he does. I saw an interview with him yesterday and he said he’ll fight me if Conor fights Ferguson, and Dana (White) already said that fight will happen, so I believe my next fight will be against Khabib.”
“I definitely want to fight him,” Barboza added. “He’s definitely one of the best and I respect him, I respect his team. He’s definitely one of the best 155 in the world. He’s the No. 2 and I’m the No. 3, and that’s the fight that makes sense for us.”
Barboza rides a three-fight winning streak most recently scoring a flying-knee KOs of Beneil Dariush in March while Khabib is non-stop undefeated in MMA with eight fights inside the octagon.
Edson said he is eager to return to the octagon and is ready to take a shot onto top contender Khabib.
“If they make this fight with Khabib in Russia? Of course,” he said. “It’s just the two of us in the Octagon. People can scream and threat outside the Octagon, but wherever it is, brother, I’ll fight him anywhere.
“I’m in the best shape of my life,” he added. “I’m more excited than ever. I’m just waiting for a phone call. I want to fight the best, someone closer to me. I’m ready. You have no idea. I feel 100 percent, and I’m ready for a big war, like always. Every time I step in the cage you guys see a big war, and next time is not gonna be different. I’m really ready for a war.”
Watch below Edson Barboza offered Khabib for UFC 219:
