Khabib Nurmagomedov is Preparing “For War” in September

It remains to be seen when the UFC will begin promotion events, on account of the coronavirus pandemic. But, the company’s lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov, seems to think that his next fight could go down in September.

Nurmagomedov hints at September for his next title defense

Recently Nurmagomedov was forced to drop out of a scheduled, April 18th bout with Tony Ferguson, since he was stranded in Russia, due to a coronavirus travel ban. Ultimately, however, UFC 249 was postponed and it’s not clear when the UFC will begin holding events.

In terms of Nurmagomedov, recently the undefeated fighter posted the comments and image below on Instagram (translation via Google Translate).

“But September is not so far away, although it’s hard to believe that everything will end by September, but still one serious person said that in peacetime it is necessary to prepare for war

“How are your days going?

View this post on Instagram

А ведь до сентября не так уж и далеко, хоть самому и тяжело верится, что все закончится к сентябрю, но все же один серьёзный человек сказал: что в мирное время надо к войне готовится ? – А как ваши дни проходят?

A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov) on Apr 12, 2020 at 7:44am PDT

Timeline makes sense

So, we’ll see what happens. If the pandemic has slowed and the UFC is holding events by then, September for Khabib’s next fight makes sense. Before UFC 249 was canceled outright, Nurmagmomedov told ESPN the following:

“June, July, two months, then August I can fight. I hear the UFC wants to make a show in San Francisco [in August].

If not, let’s fight in Abu Dhabi middle of September. Or fight now, before Ramadan. April 18, we’re supposed to fight, but where? This is the question.”

“I believe we’re going to fight, I swear to God,” Nurmagomedov said. “I don’t know, but I have a feeling we’re going to fight.

Just wait. We’re going to fight. I really believe nobody wants this fight like me. I swear. Nobody wants this fight like I want this fight.”

Another question is, will the fight be against Ferguson? Could the UFC look at rebooking Ferguson – Gaethje in the short term? It’s possible.

Although, due to how much buzz was tied to Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson, now that UFC 249 has been canceled you would think the UFC will look to rebook Khabib versus “El Cucuy”. As there are other all-star match-ups they can use for pay-per-view headliners, like, say, Conor McGregor versus Gaethje?