Khabib Nurmagomedov cancelled his UFC 249 clash against Tony Ferguson
Former UFC stars Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping believe that Vladimir Putin could save the UFC 249 main event between Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib is the Lightweight champion and is stuck in Russia. The champion also posted that he was not going to fight under these circumstances.
The champion highlighted that everyone should be under quarantine during this time. He also went on to share how upset he was over the decision.
Some have suggested that flying out from Russia would be a problem due to the coronavirus pandemic, but Sonnen opened up on how well Khabib and Putin are:
“If Khabib cannot participate simply cos he can’t get out of Russia, that I would be very, very, bearish on.
“The reason for that is he has a personal relationship with the president of Russia.
“I believe Khabib could leave. By the way, the president of Russia loves the UFC. I’m a little bit light that Khabib is just locked down and government officials won’t let him out. That would be a surprise to me.”
Putin loves the UFC
Bisping also came into the discussion and echoed Sonnen’s thoughts about the Russian president:
“Putin loves the UFC, he loves MMA and he loves his own people to do well and represent Russia, Dagestan, the provinces.
“So yeah, I’m sure a little bit of red tape they could get a private jet and fly him to wherever he needs to be so I don’t really see that being an issue.”
However, Khabib’s concerns about the virus are real. Dana White has been adamant that the fight would go on, and there could be a major change in the card now.
UFC 249 takes place on 18 April and it will be interesting to see what happens next.
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