Today In Sports History (April 1, 2018)

On this day in 2018, Dana White reluctantly had to announce that Tony “El Cucuy” Ferguson had to pull out of his fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov for the UFC Lightweight Championship on April Fools Day (6 days before UFC 223). El Cucuy was riding a 9-fight win streak and recently crowned Interim Lightweight Champion of the UFC. Many were extremely disheartened to hear the news, believing it to be April Fools folly as this was the 4th time they were scheduled to fight. But Ferguson suffered a freak accident doing his media obligations on a few days prior. He tripped on a cable in the studio and tore his lateral collateral ligament (LCL), which required surgery due to the nature of the tear. It was an extremely frustrating situation for Tony Ferguson; rightfully so, he had suffered one of the most bizarre freak accidents outside of the octagon in the UFC’s history. Max Holloway, the at-the-time UFC Featherweight (145 LB) Champion stepped up to fight Khabib for the 155 LB title on 6 days notice. He was, however, deemed medically unfit to fight. Anthony Pettis was then set to take the spot, however he weighed in at 155.2 pounds; just shy of the 155 LB championship limit. He was not given a second chance to weigh-in, despite the NYSAC (New York State Athletic Commission) having an allowance of two hours for championship fighters to re-attempt to make their designated weight. The UFC then attempted to name the “Irish Dragon” Paul Felder – who made weight for his scheduled fight with Al Iaquinta, but NYSAC would not allow that. In a strange turn of events Al Iaquinta was named as Khabib Nurmagomedov’s opponent for UFC 223. Strangely enough, Al Iaquinta had weighed in for his fight with Paul Felder at 156 LBS (the lightweight limit), which took him out of title contention against Nurmagomedov. In other words, even if Iaquinta had won the fight, the NY State Athletic Commission wouldn’t recognize him as the official champion. Confusing? Indeed. Many people believe the entirety of UFC 223 was cursed.

Khabib would go on to win the fight in a Unanimous Decision becoming the official Lightweight champion of the UFC. He defended his belt three times over Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor & Justin Gaethje before retiring with a perfect record of 29-0.