Los Angeles (AFP)
Russian MMA (mixed martial arts) star Khabib Nurmagomedov on Wednesday gave up on a fight scheduled for April 18 due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The UFC (the most important professional MMA league) lightweight champion was to face American Tony Ferguson in the star fight of the evening UFC 249, but he declared on his Instagram account that he did not want to leave Russia.
"I understand everything but I am much more disappointed than you to cancel this fight (...) I had a lot of plans after the fight, but I cannot control everything", writes on his account the Daguestanais, who had defeated Irish mixed martial arts superstar Conor McGregor on October 6, 2018 in an ultra-modern fight.
The UFC has already canceled three events for lack of a place to organize the fights, because of the restrictions put in place to fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
The league had not yet announced the place planned for the Khabib-Ferguson fight, but its president Dana White had assured last week to have "four or five sites under the elbow" and said he was determined to organize it for " bring some normality back to this country. "
According to some newspapers, the UFC plans to organize its fights behind closed doors.
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