Dana White Claims Khabib Nurmagomedov 'Went Rogue,' Leading to His UFC 209 Fight Cancellation

Dana White believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov's UFC 209 fight could've been saved.

Khabib Nurmagomedov during his last UFC fight.
USA Today Sports

Image via USA Today Sports/Adam Hunger

Khabib Nurmagomedov during his last UFC fight.

The co-headline interim lightweight championship fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson at UFC 209 has been called off after Nurmagomedov was hospitalized Thursday evening. UFC officials are indicating that "weight management medical issues" led to Khabib's hospitalization.

At the weigh-ins, UFC president Dana White claimed that Nurmagomedov "went rogue" by contacting a doctor in the Las Vegas area, where the event was scheduled to take place, instead of reaching out to the company's medical team. In Dana's opinion, if Khabib opted to go through the appropriate channels, there was a possibility that the fight could still be on tonight. 

“Basically, his team had decided to take him to just some random hospital here in Las Vegas instead of picking up the phone and calling our doctor and calling Brianna [Mattison], who runs all the medicals,” White said. “They went rogue and went out and did their own thing. Had they done this thing the right way, the fight probably could have been saved.”

White stated that Nurmagomedov got within six pounds of making weight when things awry. “It’s never good,” Dana said, perMMA Fighting. “If you’re doing it and things are going bad, it’s bad on your kidneys, it’s bad on your liver. It’s just bad all the way around. He’s doing better now. Obviously, he’s OK. He’s gonna be fine. But yeah. It’s never good.”

According to TMZ Sports, the winner of Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson would have gone on to face Conor McGregor. So, you know there's no one who is more upset over the cancellation of this fight than Khabib. 

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