UFC – Daniel Cormier: No Fight Makes More Money Than Khabib vs Conor
Speaking ahead of UFC 246, Conor McGregor predicted that Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson wouldn’t happen at UFC 249. At the time, we thought, this isn’t that far fetched, having seen their previous four scheduled fights fail to make it to the Octagon. No one could have seen however, that a global pandemic would emerge in the lead up to UFC 249, to put one of the most eagerly anticipated matchups in UFC history in jeopardy once again.
Whilst the world goes in lockdown, as it tries to slow down the coronavirus, the chances of UFC 249 going ahead appear to diminish. But despite postponing three events, UFC president Dana White remains adamant that UFC 249 will go ahead as planned on April 18th. Somewhere.
Just in the last few moments, Dana told Yahoo! Sports’ Kevin Iole on Instagram live that he now has a location.
Yesterday we reported that Khabib had flown back to Russia to continue his training camp, after California issued a statewide stay-at-home order, where residents are only allowed to leave their homes for ‘essential activities’, such as food shopping and going to the doctors.
Speaking to ESPN‘s Ariel Helwani, Daniel Cormier opened up on the difficulties his AKA teammate Khabib has been experiencing preparing for UFC 249.
“[AKA head coach] Javier Mendez, Khabib and I had a conversation a couple weeks ago, when this thing started going crazy, and we started talking about making sure Khabib had the gym available to him solely. But Khabib and I were talking a couple of times personally, and I was like ‘What about your family and everything?’ He was like, ‘Yeah.’ But that’s the last we spoke.
“I don’t know [if Khabib has returned to Russia], I haven’t been to the gym because the gym has been for Khabib. But if he went back I think it was the right decision. He needs to be with his family. He’s got children, he’s got a wife, he’s got a very young kid that he needs to be around.”
With UFC 249 still in doubt, Cormier believes that should it get cancelled, we could see the UFC make Khabib vs McGregor instead. Although the former two division UFC champion believes that the Irishman needs to win one more fight, before he earns another title shot.
“No fight makes more money than Khabib vs. Conor. And no Tony-Khabib fight, no matter who else is on the card, will make as much money as Khabib-Conor.
“I believe that is a possibility. They may end up doing that, even if the reality is for us, the diehards, I want Khabib vs. Tony. Conor can fight someone else and still make money. Conor’s going to make money, but I think he should fight one more fight before he gets back in there with Khabib. What has he shown in 45 seconds with Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone that he proved he can go out there and change what happened in the first fight with Khabib?”
If UFC 249 does get cancelled, which fight do you want to see the UFC make, Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Conor McGregor or Khabib vs Tony Ferguson?
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