The Nevada Athletic Commission (NAC) made a decision earlier this week to reduce the penalties for teammates of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. The NAC reduced the suspensions for Zubaira Tukhugov and Abubakar Nurmagomedov that will now make them eligible to fight at UFC 242 which is scheduled to take place in Abu Dhabi in September.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to headline UFC 242 as he defends his title against interim champ Dustin ‘The Diamond’ Poirier. Khabib is now one of the biggest UFC stars after defeating former champion Conor McGregor during UFC 229 which resulted in a brawl outside the octagon that resulted in the suspensions of McGregor, Khabib and his teammates.
Now that the suspensions have been reduced, the Abu Dhabi card should feature a number of Muslim fights and teammates of Khabib. Abu Dhabi is expected to roll out the red carpet and heavily promote UFC 242 as fans from all over the middle-east will fly in and make it an event to remember.
Some of the fighters that should fight in Abu Dhabi include Islam Makhachev and Zubaira Tukhugov.
Most MMA fans are bored waiting for Conor McGregor to fight as the Irish superstar hasn’t been very active in the last two years. The Notorious one recently went on the Tony Robbins podcast and sent out a strong message to Khabib and his fans.
In a statement, McGregor said
Although the match didn’t go my way, the fight went my way. And trust me when I tell you, Tony, this war is not over. If this fight does not happen again, if it does not get reset, it’s on them. They’re running away. I’m here for the fight and here for the rematch.
It is hard to see how McGregor will get a rematch when the next challenger for the UFC lightweight championship will be the winner of Tony Ferguson vs. Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone. McGregor will in all likelihood have to take another fight at lightweight and win impressively before he can press his case for a title shot at Khabib assuming ‘The Eagle’ win his fight against Poirier.
Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz who is very outspoken isn’t keen on the Conor McGregor rematch at the moment as he says Khabib wants to fight GSP next and recently posted a picture of the two on Instagram!
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