07 April, 2018
Khabib Nurmagomedov will face Al Iaquinta in the main event of UFC 223 after a dramatic last-gasp reshuffle of the card.
UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway agreed to the short-notice fight but faced the toughest weight cut of his life. What followed was the incident involving Conor McGregor on Thursday inside the Barclays Center that resulted in three planned fights for Saturday's UFC 223 card being called off and assault charges filed against McGregor.
There have been reports that former champion Anthony Pettis is one possible replacement to step in and face Nurmagomedov but he still hasn't weighed in yet.
Lightweight Michael Chiesa and flyweight Ray Borg were forced to withdraw from their respective bouts, due to injuries sustained during an attack on their bus by UFC star Conor McGregor.
Nurmagomedov made weight Friday. Weighing in at 155.2 lbs as well, Pettis had presumably been given two hours to shed the 0.2 lbs needed for a title fight.
"To be honest, I hope he's going to fix his problem", Nurmagomedov said. "All technicalities, we will figure out after the fight".
More news: SpaceX launches 10 satellites, but United States dollars 6 million nose cone crashesIf that is the case then it's likely that the event will proceed with a co-main event title rematch between Rose Namajunas and Joanna Jedrzejczyk moving up to the headline role.
Artem Lobov, a close friend of McGregor's, was pulled from the card for his involvement. Both fighters successfully made weight on Friday.
Confusing matters even more, Holloway was an eleventh-hour injury replacement for Tony Ferguson. Earlier in the week, his nutritionist George Lockhart told ESPN's Brett Okamoto that this tied for the largest weight cut he'd ever undertaken.
Felder, who has won three straight fights and five of six, wrote on Twitter that the state athletic commission said he was not ranked high enough to earn the title shot.
It was the fourth time in just over two years that Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson has been cancelled but a saviour arrived on Easter Sunday in the form of Max Holloway.