Khabib Nurmagomedov has clapped back to his critics, who are blaming him for the UFC 249 main event fallout.
The undefeated lightweight champion recently confirmed he’s out of the scheduled title fight against Tony Ferguson on April 18 due to travel restrictions in Russia.
Khabib’s decision didn’t sit well to some mixed martial arts fans, accusing the lightweight champion of hiding and running away from ‘El Cucuy,’ as the lightweight match-up has been shelved for fifth straight time.
Meanwhile, Ferguson slammed the Russian for using the travel ban as an excuse to back out of the fight and wants the UFC to strip Khabib of the 155-pound strap.
Following the backlash, ‘The Eagle’ provided details on how the global pandemic stopped the promotion from finding a location for the April pay-per-view event.
No Location
In an Instagram live, the Russian fighter discussed the promotion’s struggles on securing a new venue for UFC 249 after the New York State Commission canceled the event at Barclays Center.
“We talk about where we going to fight,” Nurmagomedov shared.
“U.S., Europe, Emirates, Asia, whatever, but nobody knows location, but everybody wants I fly somewhere. UFC don’t show us location. Where we going to fight? This is what I’m talking about.”
“I don’t understand this. The UFC tried to find a location last almost one month. They don’t find. What about me? This is my mistake?”
“We left San Jose, when we landed in Dubai, we land 8 p.m. at night, and they say 12 a.m. they closed gate.”
“We tried to go in but this is impossible. They say this is impossible. Then I said OK, whatever happens, we’re going to go to Dagestan and we’re going to keep training. After Dubai, we come to Dagestan, and we keep training.”
“Right now, I finished my training. Everyday I’m training, and I’m waiting for location. But they don’t send it. All gates are closed. Russia gate closed. U.S. gate closed. Everywhere is closed. Everybody is sent home, quarantined. All government. Famous people. Even Dana [White].”
Not To Blame
With UFC unable to send them location, Khabib said he is not to blame for the fallout but the coronavirus pandemic.
“You know what’s interesting? My name is Khabib, I am not coronavirus.”
“My name is not coronavirus. Dana (White) is Dana. Tony Ferguson is Tony Ferguson. My name is Khabib. But No. 1 thing that makes me crazy is when 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 come to U.S. because UFC give me location, New York, Barclays Center. I come to U.S. I train 40 days, then when everything goes crazy, they say U.S. is 100 percent no fight.”
“I understand. If Abu Dhabi, no problem. We did this before, we’re going to do this one more time. Let’s go Abu Dhabi. We come, they close gate.”
“This is not my problem. I don’t make mistake. One more time, I want to say I am Khabib, I am not coronavirus.”
(Featured Image Source: Instagram/ Khabib Nurmagomedov and YouTube/ UFC)