With UFC 254 fast approaching, Khabib Nurmagomedov has already shared a preview of the fight card for the pay-per-viewThe news broke via Khabib’s Twitter late last night and was met with mass approval from fans with some expressing that they couldn’t wait for October 24.The main fight will see Khabib square off against Justin Gaethje in a lightweight unification bout. The Russian has said that he will aim to take his opponent to the deepest ocean and drown him as he looks to extend his 29-0 record in the Octagon.Gaethje earned his shot against Khabib after winning against Tony Ferguson via TKO in Jacksonville in May during lockdown. With this win, he secured the UFC interim lightweight title.This will be Khabib’s first fight after the death of his father earlier this year due to Covid-19.Along with the main event, Robert Whittaker will return to action against Jared Cannonier. Originally pencilled in for UFC 248 in March, this bout is now scheduled as part of UFC 254.Whittaker lost the UFC middleweight championship to Israel Adesayna last October, but returned to winning ways last time out against Darren Till, winning via unanimous decision.Elsewhere, Zabit Magomedsharipov will square off against Yair Rodríguez in a featherweight contest which was originally supposed to be the headlining fight for UFC Fight Night 175, but Rodriguez sustained an ankle injury, delaying the bout in the process.
Before the main lightweight bout of the evening, Robert dos Anjos will meet Islam Makhachev. This bout marks a return to the lightweight division for dos Anjos, who has spent time in the welterweight division. Dos Anjos' last lightweight fight came four years ago when he lost against Tony Ferguson via unanimous decision.
Ferguson himself has been mooted to take part in UFC 254, facing off against Dustin Poirier, but this has not yet been announced despite appearing in Khabib’s tweet.
Other fights that are scheduled to make up UFC 254 include a heavyweight bout between Alexander Volkov and Walt Harris and a bantamweight contest that features Umar Nurmagomedov and Sergey Morozov.
With the reaction going down a storm, all roads lead to October 24, however, a venue is still yet to be confirmed with Abu Dhabi mentioned as one of the possible fight locations.