Originally published at https://www.postwrestling.com/2018/04/01/tony-ferguson-injured-new-main-event-of-ufc-223-is-max-holloway-vs-khabib-nurmagomedov/
One day Tony Ferguson and Khabib Nurmagomedov may fight, but it won’t be next Saturday night in Brooklyn at UFC 223.
The anticipation for this lightweight fight is only equaled by the cursed nature of the pairing with the bout falling apart for the fourth time.
Ariel Helwani reported on Sunday that interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson suffered an injury and is off the UFC 223 card.
In stunning news, current UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway will step up on six-days notice to fight Nurmagomedov for a version of the lightweight title.
Holloway had been recovering from his own injury, which forced him to withdraw from a championship fight with Frankie Edgar last month at UFC 222.
Holloway is unbeaten dating back to August 2013 and became the undisputed UFC featherweight champion last June when he stopped Jose Aldo at UFC 212
UFC president Dana White spoke to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto and confirmed that Ferguson suffered a torn LCL and will require surgery on his knee and that Holloway and Nurmagomedov will fight for the undisputed lightweight title. White added in the interview with ESPN that the interim title will go away with this fight.