OFFICIAL: Tony Ferguson signs to face Khabib in UFC lightweight title fight in April

30 Nov, 2019 06:04

Tony Ferguson has officially signed to face Khabib Nurmagomedov in a UFC lightweight title fight at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, on April 18.

UFC lightweight ruler Khabib penned his bout agreement earlier in the week, and Ferguson did the same after meeting with UFC executives in Las Vegas on Friday, ESPN reports.

Khabib and Ferguson will meet in a pay-per-view event which will be the fifth attempt at getting the pair in the octagon together. All four previous match-ups have fallen through due to illness or injury to one or other of the pair.

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Dagestani Khabib, 31, stands 28-0 in his career and last defended his 155lbs title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi in September.

Ferguson, 35, is on a 12-fight win streak stretching back to 2012, and has lost just once in his past 19 bouts. 'El Cucuy' was last in action at UFC 238 in June, when he beat Donald 'Cowboy' Cerrone via second-round TKO.   

The match-up will be one of the most eagerly-awaited in MMA history, and follows the confirmation that Irish MMA megastar Conor McGregor will return to face Cerrone in Las Vegas in January, as the UFC begins with a bang in 2020.