Khabib Nurmagomedov Fires Back At Critics For UFC 249 Withdrawal

Khabib Nurmagomedov
Photo via Instagram @khabib_nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov Responds To Criticisms About Withdrawing From UFC 249

Khabib Nurmagomedov has been hearing criticisms about pulling out of UFC 249. Now he responds to those comments, firing back in a big way.

Khabib was forced out of UFC 249, after getting stuck in Russia due to a travel ban. Despite the fact that the UFC continuing to attempt to put on the fights is highly unrecommended, and he had nothing to do with getting stuck, Nurmagomedov has received some serious backlash. Tony Ferguson, and others, have taken shots at the lightweight champ for pulling out of the fight.

Well, Khabib Nurmagomedov has had enough of the criticisms. He took to Instagram Live recently, to discuss his withdrawal from the event. Here, he fired back at people for attacking him, and even detailed the great lengths he went through to try to stay on the card. (h/t MMAJunkie)

“Nobody knows location, but everyone wants me to fly somewhere,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t understand this. UFC tried to find a location (almost one month ago); they don’t find. What about me? This is my mistake? UFC don’t send us location. Where (are) we going to fight? I don’t have location; that’s why I’m not going to fight.

“Where we going to fight? Nobody talks about this. Everybody now sit home, and they try to find someone (to blame). They have to put pressure on someone because people are bored. Soccer closed, hockey closd, NFL, NBA, soccer, Olympic games, European championships – everything is closed. Now Tony vs. Khabib, this is maybe closed, too. Now they have to push someone.”

Khabib then went on to explain how confused he was by the fact that people are saying he is to blame for this situation.

My name is Khabib. I am not coronavirus,” Nurmagomedov said. “My name is not coronavirus. Dana is Dana. Tony Ferguson is Tony Ferguson. My name is Khabib, but No. 1 thing what make me crazy is people say I pull out, or I do something. I don’t understand this. I’m still training since December, I train very hard since December. I (came) to U.S. because UFC (gave) me location, New York. I come to U.S. I’m training 40 days. Then when everything (went) crazy they say, U.S. 100 percent no fight. We move to Dubai. Why? They told me 99 percent it’s going to be in Dubai.

“My last training camp I come to U.S, I train with coach (Javier Mendez) for 55 days, then we move to Abu Dhabi because fight was in Abu Dhabi. I understand. OK, if it’s not Abu Dhabi, no problem. We did this before we can do it one more time. We come, and they close gate, but this not my problem. I make no mistake. One more time I want to say I am Khabib; I am not coronavirus.”

Obviously, Khabib Nurmagomedov is not the reason this fight fell through. Being upset is understandable, but it is important to aim your frustrations in the right direction. He also said in the same session that he hopes for the fight to be rescheduled, so maybe we will see it happen in a few more months.

Published on April 2, 2020 at 4:39 pm
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