UFC fans got a terrible April Fool's surprise after doomed lightweight showdown canceled on days' notice
04/01/2025 04:59 PM
One of several attempts to book Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson fell short at an unfortunate time.
After Conor McGregor vacated the UFC lightweight title, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson were booked to fight for the belt in the UFC 223 main event on April 7th, 2018. Despite the disappointment from fans that McGregor vacated the belt, the Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson matchup helped alleviate the groans in a fight between two of the division’s powerhouses.
Nurmagomedov and Ferguson were booked numerous times in their careers. UFC CEO Dana White calls the fight one of the biggest ‘what ifs’ in mixed martial arts history, but the matchmakers did everything they could to make the bout come to fruition.
Fans were pumped to see Nurmagomedov and Ferguson finally square off at UFC 223 in Brooklyn, before an April Fool’s Day mishap throttled the fight.
Khabib vs. Ferguson considered the UFC’s biggest ‘what if’ fight
During a pre-UFC 223 media obligation, Ferguson tripped on a wire and suffered a significant leg injury just days before the event. While the injury was originally diagnosed as a minor speed bump, Ferguson was later forced to withdraw from the card entirely, forcing MMA media to break the unfortunately timed news on April Fool’s Day.
ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto and longtime MMA journalist Ariel Helwani were forced to break the news on social media, despite the April Fool’s Day skepticism from fans. Some immediately thought that journalists like Helwani, Okamoto, and others were participating in a coordinated prank, but it turned out to be a nightmare scenario for all involved.
After the initial reports from Okamoto and Helwani, the UFC officially announced Ferguson’s forced withdrawal from UFC 223 due to injury. The matchmakers quickly put together a vacant title fight between Nurmagomedov and then-UFC featherweight champion Max Holloway, who flew out to New York on days notice to cut weight.
While Nurmagomedov and Holloway faced off at a pre-fight press conference during fight week, Holloway was forced from the card shortly after the UFC put the bout together, due to medical concerns from the short-notice weight cut.
The third time was the charm for the UFC brass ahead of UFC 223, as the matchmakers promoted Al Iaquinta to the main event slot to fight Nurmagomedov for the vacant title. The fight held together, and Nurmagomedov went on to win the fight by decision to reel in a new era in the UFC lightweight division.
The UFC later attempted to book Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson in 2020 for UFC 249. But once again, the fight fell through, this time due to Nurmagomedov not being able to travel overseas at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ferguson lost in an interim title fight to Justin Gaethje at UFC 249, and Nurmagomedov later defeated Gaethje in his retirement fight at UFC 254.
Tony Ferguson set for MMA return against Conor McGregor’s controversial ally
Seven years after UFC 223, Ferguson will make his non-UFC return to the cage against McGregor’s longtime teammate, Dillon Danis, at Global Fight League 2 in Los Angeles. Ferguson parted ways with the UFC after a lengthy losing streak, which included his most recent defeat against Michael Chiesa at UFC Abu Dhabi last year.
Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in 2020 after defeating Gaethje at UFC 254. He entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022 alongside his longtime teammate Daniel Cormier.
Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson would’ve likely been one of the UFC’s greatest rivalries, had their long-awaited showdown come to fruition. But now, it’s nothing more than a ‘what if’ that fell apart on April Fool’s Day seven years ago.
