Dana White Reports Bout Agreements For Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje Should be Sent Soon

Following Justin Gaethje’s impressive win at UFC 249, in which he secured the interim lightweight title, Conor McGregor tried inserting himself into the title shot debate with a barrage of tweets. Although the comments quickly blazed around the internet, Dana White’s confirmed the UFC’s moving forward with Khabib Nurmagomedov versus Gaethje.

White says bout agreements should be sent soon

Gaethje faced Tony Ferguson last Saturday night, and ended “El Cucuy’s” 12 fight winning streak, by stopping him in round five. The former WSOF champ also laid claim to the interim belt, and as a result, he’s expected to fight Nurmagomedov next.

Well, it wasn’t long before McGregor was warning Gaethje and trashing Nurmagomedov on Twitter. The former UFC champ also predicted that he was going to end up fighting Gaethje next.

But, while talking to the media after Wednesday’s UFC Jacksonville card, White relayed this (quotes via MMA Fighting).

“So yesterday when I talked to [Khabib] — we were going to send out bout agreements yesterday,” White said. “There were a couple of weird things that happened yesterday and didn’t end up getting it done apparently.

“But we’re talking about doing Gaethje vs. Khabib in September. Cause I talked to Khabib yesterday and he said September, ‘I’m ready to go in September.

And what about McGregor’s tweets? And his claim that Khabib wouldn’t end up fighting Gaethje? White said this.

“So we’re gonna do Khabib and Gaethje in September. Tony Ferguson, I’d like to see take some time off after that fight on Saturday. We’ll see what happens this summer with Conor.”

Could the timeline change?

It wasn’t long ago that Khabib said he’d be ready to fight in July. But, that was before it was reported that his father had become critically ill. During the post-fight presser, White also said this.

“Talked to Khabib yesterday, he didn’t even tell me [about his father]. So I guess he was keeping this quiet and wasn’t talking about it.

“I talked to him today after I found out. He’s obviously busted up but he’s a very proud guy and likes to act like a man and he’s like ‘you know how much I love my dad.’ This is a tough one.”

Now, it should be noted that since Wednesday, it’s been reported that Khabib’s father is improving. So, if Abdulmanap continues to improve could Khabib look to fight sooner? Hard to say. 

What does seem to be clear, at least for now, is that the UFC intends to move forward with Nurmagomedov – Gaethje.