Ian O'Neill 
It has been confirmed that Khabib Nurmagomedov (28-0) is to defend his UFC lightweight title against top contender Tony Ferguson (25-3) at a UFC pay-per-view event on April 18th, 2020. The news was first reported by Brett Okamoto.
Breaking: WE GOT A FIGHT. Per Tony Ferguson’s (@TonyFergusonXT) management Ballengee Group, Tony has signed his contract to face Khabib Nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) on April 18 in Brooklyn. More coming to @espn shortly. pic.twitter.com/cgwCucPl3v
— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) November 30, 2019
The fight, which is set to take place at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn, New York, will be the fifth time that the UFC has tried to put this match-up together. The other four bookings fell by the wayside for various injuries and weight cutting issues.
A fight between Tony Ferguson & Khabib Nurmagomedov has been booked for 2015, 2016, 2017 and now 2018. They have yet to fight. #UFOTD
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) January 17, 2018
Former UFC lightweight interim-champion Ferguson is a 10th Planet Jui-Jitsu black belt under Eddie Bravo and is also a NCWA All-American. The Californian is riding an impressive win streak winning all of his last 12 bouts with the latest victory being Donald Ceronne at UFC 238.
Nurmagomedov, the current champ, is from Dagestan, Russia and is coming into this fight off his second title defence after defeating Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in September. After beating Al Iaquinta to win the belt he went on to defend his title against Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
