Khabib Nurmagomedov Posts Statement Regarding Withdrawal From UFC 249

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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

If it was not already official, the Ultimate Fighting Championship will not be seeing its lightweight champ compete any time soon.

On Wednesday, Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) wrote on Instagram that he was officially out of his UFC 249 contest against Tony Ferguson (25-3) due to travel restrictions regarding the coronavirus. Nurmagomedov, who was unable to leave Russia barring chartering a private jet, is currently “staying home in quarantine.” This snakebitten matchup has now been scuttled a whopping five times throughout the UFC history.

Although it was announced on Monday that Nurmagomedov would not be able to leave the country and that the fight was effectively over at that point, the Russian’s statement makes it clear he will not be fighting. “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,” he wrote.

The promotion is already scrambling to replace “The Eagle,” with Justin Gaethje floated as a potential replacement. In the past, Gaethje turned down a match against Ferguson on four weeks’ notice. “The Hightlight” famously does not take short-notice bouts, and prefers full preparation for top-tier opponents.

Nurmagomedov’s statement regarding his withdrawal is as follows:

"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."

UFC 249 does not currently have a location, but UFC President Dana White has insisted that the event will still take place on April 18. White has claimed in a recent interview that he has a new location “99.9 percent set,” and the likely destination in the U.S. was in the state of Florida. However, on Wednesday the Sunshine State enacted a stay-at-home order, barring all non-essential businesses from staying open while prohibiting gatherings.