Tony Ferguson Out; Max Holloway Meets Khabib Nurmagomedov in New UFC 223 Headliner

It looks like the Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov booking just isn’t meant to be.

The promotion announced on Sunday that Ferguson is out of Saturday’s UFC 223 headliner due to an injury. As a result, featherweight champion Max Holloway will step in and face Nurmagomedov for the lightweight championship. Ferguson, who captured interim 155-pound gold last year, has presumably been stripped of his title. UFC 223 was the fourth time Ferguson and Nurmagomedov had been scheduled to fight.

In another interesting note, UFC President Dana White said the Holloway vs. Nurmagomedov matchup is for the “official” lightweight belt. However, there was no mention of Conor McGregor being stripped of the title he won at UFC 205 in November 2016.

“Unfortunately this is not an April Fools,” White announced in a video on Twitter. “Tony is out; he hurt his knee. Tony Ferguson is injured. But the beautiful thing about this sport is that the stud 145-pound champion Max Holloway is gonna step up and face Khabib this Saturday in Brooklyn, N.Y., and it is for the official 155-pound title.”

BOOM!!!!!! We got Khabib vs The Champ Max Holloway for the 155lb title this Saturday in Brooklyn New York!!!!!!! pic.twitter.com/quvI3UqGXh

— Dana White (@danawhite) April 1, 2018

With a victory, Holloway would join McGregor as the only two fighters in UFC history to hold championships in two weight classes simultaneously. The Hawaiian last appeared at UFC 218 on Dec. 2, when he successfully defended the 145-pound strap with a third-round TKO of Jose Aldo. “Blessed” was supposed to face Frankie Edgar at UFC 222 but had to withdraw from the fight due to injury.

Nurmagomedov is unbeaten in 25 professional fights, including nine under the UFC banner. Most recently, “The Eagle” earned a lopsided unanimous decision over Edson Barboza at UFC 219 on Dec. 30.

UFC 223 takes place at the Barclays Center and will see Rose Namajunas defend the strawweight crown against Joanna Jedrzejczyk in the co-main event. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on Fox Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.