At long last, Khabib Nurmagomedov has his opponent for UFC 223.
The 30-year-old New Yorker Al Iaquinta will take on Nurmagomedov for the in the Barclay's Centre tomorrow night; but, only Nurmagomedov will be eligible to claim the lightweight title.
Re: tomorrow:
Khabib wins he wins belt.
Iaquinta wins no belt because of 155.2.
5 round, main.— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 6, 2018
Iaquinta weighed 155.2 with underwear and was early. He would have definitely made 155. But alas. Everyone is happy.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) April 6, 2018
It had been a tumultuous number of hours for the UFC ahead of this weekend's event in Brooklyn.
After Conor McGregor gatecrashed yesterday evening's media event, news broke today that Max Holloway, one of the designated fighters on UFC 223's main event, would not be fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight belt after all.
With the impetus on finding a replacement for that fight, attention never fell too far from McGregor and his predicament with the New York Police Department.
Over what appeared to be a number of hours (but what was in reality maybe ninety minutes), Anthony Pettis and Paul Felder were both deemed likely opponents for Nurmagomedov; right before they ultimately weren't.
In what must have been a stressful time for Nurmagomedov, let alone his potential opponents, he now has his last-minute bout, and, crucially, a chance of claiming the vacant lightweight belt.
