Khabib Nurmagomedov Not Concerned with UFC 249 Location: ‘Any Place, I Don’t Care’

As concerns regarding the coronavirus in the United States continue to grow, UFC president Dana White has been adamant that the lightweight championship fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson will indeed take place on April 18.

It’s just a matter of finding a suitable location — even if that means moving UFC 249 out of the country. As for lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, the venue isn’t as important as the opportunity to fight.

“Honestly I don’t care,” Nurmagomedov said in an Instagram Live chat held by manager Ali Abdelaziz. “It’s going to be good if fight happens in the U.S. because I am here already for like one-and-a-half month. I’ve been training, and from this day we have like 30 days before the fight. Almost one month, and it’s going to be very good if we fight here in the U.S. But if not, any place. Any place, I don’t care.”

Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, has speculated that the event could be moved to Abu Dhabi, where Khabib made his most recent title defense this past September. Whether that is the destination remains to be seen. Khabib said he expects to have news on a new location very soon for his title defense very soon.

“This is very important. Not just for me, for the UFC, for the fans – this is very important for the lightweight division,” he said. “This is why I really want to fight with him (Ferguson). We have to fight, and I think the next couple days – yesterday I talked with Dana – Dana say they’re going to do everything that they can to keep this fight. We’ll see. Next couple days Dana is going to send us location.”

Nurmagomedov acknowledges that staying healthy is the most important thing in the face of a global pandemic. That includes everyone potentially involved with a closed-door pay-per-view.

“The most important thing is to be healthy,” Nurmagomedov said. “If we’re healthy, our family is healthy – this is the most important thing right now. We have to take care of ourselves. But if we’re healthy, OK, on this card, we have 13 fights. That’s 26 fighters and their corner. If they’re healthy and the UFC people who make show, like judges, athletic commission and everything – we need maximum 100 people inside the arena. Close the arena, 100 healthy people come inside and make the show. Put the camera, turn on pay-per-view, and all of us can make money. Everyone can fight.”