Dana White was upset on Friday with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team for the way they handled the fighter’s weight cut struggles ahead of UFC 209 on Saturday.
Khabib’s scheduled fight with Tony Ferguson was called off on Friday after Khabib went to the hospital following a failed attempt at a weight cut. Doctors recommended that he not go through with his scheduled fight.
Appearing on FS1 Friday, White said the fight could have been saved had Khabib’s team called him instead of going to the hospital.
On FS1, Dana White says Khabib's team went straight to hospital instead of calling UFC. He said if they called, fight could have been saved
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) March 4, 2017
The phrase Dana used about Khabib's team was "went rogue." https://t.co/YlDMsS27J6
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) March 4, 2017
Dana White also said on FS1 that Khabib came within 6 pounds of the weight but his body failed him.
— Seán Sheehan (@SeanSheehanBA) March 4, 2017
Khabib walks around at over 190 pounds, though he fights at 156. He is 24-0 in his professional MMA career and was set to fight for the interim lightweight championship.
This is not the first time Khabib has failed to make weight for a fight. He had the same issue in 2013 prior to his fight with Abel Trujillo and fought at a catch weight.
Perhaps had White been informed of Khabib’s difficulties with his weight cut, he would have told the fighter to get healthy, and he would have just set things up for a catch weight.
