Justin Gaethje agrees fight with Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 despite Conor McGregor emerging as potential last minute replacement for Khabib Nurmagomedov who is stuck in Russia amid the coronavirus pandemic
- Justin Gaetjhe is ready to stand in for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s at UFC 249
- Lightweight champion has been left stranded in Russia due to coronavirus chaos
- Gaetjhe now likely to take on Tony Ferguson with a venue set to be decided
- Conor McGregor’s trainer had hinted the Notorious was ready to fight Ferguson
Justin Gaethje is ready to fill the void left by Khabib Nurmagomedov to take on Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 with the bout set to take place on ‘Native American tribal land’.
The original fight scheduled for April 18 was set to feature Nurmagomedov but the lightweight champion has been left frustrated by a travel ban in his native Russia as part of the country’s battle against the coronavirus pandemic.
Although his replacement is yet to be confirmed, Gaethje is considered the favourite to step in despite Ferguson still considering his options according to ESPN.
Justin Gaethje is ready to replace Khabib Nurmagomedov to take on Tony Ferguson at UFC 249
Ferguson was due to take on Nurmagomedov before his opponent was left stranded in Russia
Overseas locations were being discussed for the fight including in the UAE but attentions have now looked at a stateside bout from varied locations including Oklahoma, California, Florida and Kansas.
Conor McGregor’s trainer John Kavanagh had hinted that the Notorious could have emerged as a replacement in response to a Twitter poll.
Kavanagh replied to a vote on who Ferguson should face by stating ‘maybe there is a third option.’
The 31-year-old was last in action in January when it took him only 40 seconds to see off Donald Cerrone in a destructive display.
Conor McGregor’s coach, John Kavanagh, has teased the UFC star could fight Ferguson
Kavanagh responded to a tweet from ESPN’s Ariel Helwani saying there’s a ‘third option’
Either way the unavailability of Nurmagomedov has left UFC president Dana White frustrated at trying to put a match together during the coronavirus chaos.
‘The challenges are that every time I get something figured out, I wake up the next day and the world has completely changed again,’ White said.
‘Everything that I work hard on the day before, me and my crew, has now fallen apart. It literally just happened to us again today.
Nurmagomedov is stranded in his homeland of Russia and can’t return to the US
‘I woke up and Khabib Nurmagomedov is in Russia and they just shut down all travel in and out of Russia.
‘I woke up this morning and the whole world f****** changed again. So back to the drawing board and we’re figuring this out right now as we’re speaking right now, I have people working on this thing as we speak.
‘Listen, I am absolutely f**king relentless and I said that this fight is going to go on and it will.’