Some fans still aren’t over the whole UFC 209 situation and Khabib Nurmagomedov’s failure to meet Tony Ferguson inside of the Octagon to crown an interim lightweight champion.

The build-up was perfect, there was plenty of excitement surrounding the clash between two of the best lightweight’s in the world, and that was shown when most of the fans were left underwhelmed by the remainder of the card.

SCRAPPED TITLE FIGHT

Nobody knows whether The Eagle will meet El Cucuy again, especially as it was thought the winner would challenge Conor McGregor next for the full version of the belt, and it looks unlikely that the UFC will want to waste even more valuable time and go back to square one.

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Before he pulled out, the dangerous and unbeaten Dagestani was the favourite to claim the title, and it was also thought that he’d be the Notorious’ biggest threat to date.

However, following his historic win over Eddie Alvarez back at UFC 205, Mystic Mac claimed Khabib is a pull-out merchant, so it didn’t take long for social media to explode with tweets, videos and gifs of that moment.

That doesn’t necessarily mean Nurmagomedov is done at lightweight, as he may still get the chance to fight Ferguson or claim the interim title, but middleweight champion Michael Bisping doesn’t think the Irishman will ever sign a contract to fight Nurmagomedov.

Not because of the task at hand, but because a full fight camp may result in a similar situation to what Ferguson is facing, where it could all go to waste.

PULL-OUT MERCHANT

Speaking on his new podcast, Believe You Me, The Count said: “One million per cent, it KILLS his chances of ever fighting Conor and it puts the UFC in a very difficult position.

“If they make that rematch between Khabib and Tony, and Khabib wins, there is no way Conor is going to accept that because he is going to say, ‘I’m not going to take that risk of having an entire fight camp for him not to make it to the Octagon, so I’m not going to do it.’”

Nobody knows whether McGregor actually feels that way, and you can’t exactly blame him if he does take that stance – even though it will prompt his doubters to claim he’s avoiding another tough fight after he receives a lot of criticism already for not defending his titles.

UFC president Dana White might have put an end to the potential clash, though, as he suggested a move up to welterweight could be the best move for Nurmagomedov and his long-term health.

Will Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor ever meet inside of the Octagon? Have YOUR say in the comments section below.

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