The No.1 ranked lightweight contender missed out on a huge payday at UFC 209.
Not only did Khabib Nurmagomedov miss out on the biggest fight of his career at UFC 209 — with a chance to become the UFC’s interim lightweight champion — he also missed out on a massive $500,000 payday.
That’s according to MMA Fighting and ESPN’s Brett Okamoto, who recently obtained a document from the Nevada Athletic Commission disclosing Nurmagomedov’s show money.
‘The Eagle’ was scheduled to take on the No. 2 ranked Tony Ferguson in one of the year’s most highly anticipated fights but was forced to pull out due to weight cutting complications. Nurmagomedov, who has struggled with weight cutting in the past —the Dagestani missed weight by 3.5 pounds in his bout against Abel Trujillo at UFC 160 — was told by doctors Friday in Las Vegas that he wouldn’t be able to fight.
His opponent, Tony Ferguson, was offered a replacement fight against Michael Johnson but turned it down due to a pay cut.
The 28-year-old Nurmagomedov was set to make the biggest salary of his career, making $452,000 more than his last disclosed payout against Darrel Horcher at UFC on FOX 19, where he received $24,000 to show and a $24,000 win bonus.
Ferguson, 33, would have made $250,000 to show and another $250,000 in bonus money should he have beat Khabib at UFC 209.
The lightweight bout between David Teymur and Lando Vannata was bumped up to the co-main event, with the 27-year-old Teymur taking home a unanimous decision.
Welterweight champion Tyron Woodley defended his title against Stephen Thompsonin the main event, earning one of the most lackluster decision wins in the promotion’s history.
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