Enligt UFC-presidenten Dana White kunde kvällens delade huvudmatch mellan Tony Ferguson och Khabib Nurmagomedov ha räddats om Nurmagomedovs team hade hanterat viktminskningsproblemen på rätt sätt:
”Had they done this thing the right way, the fight probably could have been saved,” menar White.
Dana White uppger att klockan var fyra på morgonen i Las Vegas när han fick nys om Khabib Nurmagomedovs hälsoproblem. Men enligt UFC-presidenten begick man ett stort misstag genom att åka med Nurmagomedov till sjukhuset utan att underrätta UFC, något som White tror kan ha fått matchen inställd:
“Basically, his team had decided to take him to just some random hospital here in Las Vegas instead of picking up the phone and calling our doctor and calling Brianna [Mattison], who runs all the medicals,” säger White.
“They went rogue and went out and did their own thing. Had they done this thing the right way, the fight probably could have been saved.”
”Är aldrig bra”
Nurmagomedov hade problem med viktminskningen och fördes till sjukhus under fredagsmorgonen amerikansk tid. Hans match om lättviktens interimbälte mot Tony Ferguson på UFC 209 fick därför ställas in timmar senare.
Enligt White befann sig Nurmagomedov ca tre kilo (sex pounds) från matchvikten när problemen uppstod:
“It’s never good,” menar White. “If you’re doing it and things are going bad, it’s bad on your kidneys, it’s bad on your liver. It’s just bad all the way around. He’s doing better now. Obviously, he’s OK. He’s gonna be fine. But yeah. It’s never good.”
Nurmagomedovs manager, Ali Abdelaziz, bad om ursäkt till Ferguson och hans team I ett uttalande till MMA Fighting:
“I feel bad for Tony and his camp, I really do,” säger Abdelaziz. “The most important thing right now is Khabib’s health. He’s currently resting in his room. We’re not thinking about what’s next at this time. I want to sincerely apologize to Tony, his team, the UFC and the fans. We were all looking forward to this fight very much.”
Omslagsbild: AP Photo/Jeff Chiu
