Tony Ferguson looked all set to finally fight Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 223 last April at the fourth time of asking. However, as with their three previous bookings, one of the fighters fell out of the bout through injury.
Last time, it was Ferguson’s turn to come a cropper, suffering a knee injury from a freak tripping accident just days before their scheduled bout. Though the accident seemed innocuous enough, it saw Ferguson undergo knee surgery.
Now, just four months later, Ferguson claims he has been cleared to return back to the Octagon.
A lot has changed since Ferguson was pulled from UFC 223.
The former UFC interim lightweight champion has since lost his belt, now claimed by long-time rival Nurmagomedov after he beat Ferguson’s UFC 223 replacement Al Iaquinta.
Conor McGregor also re-inserted his name in the UFC lightweight title picture in Ferguson’s absence.
It was at the aforementioned UFC 223 show in Brooklyn, New York, where the former concurrent UFC featherweight and lightweight champion caused a scene by smashing up the fighters’ bus in an effort to get to Nurmagomedov. Now, the pair are set to fight at UFC 229 in Las Vegas early October.
Ferguson, who hasn’t fought since his third-round submission win over Kevin Lee back at UFC 216, will be an eagle-eyed, interested party when Nurmagomedov and McGregor fight, the winner of which likely being the next opponent for “El Cucuy.”
