UFC 249, scheduled for April 18 in Brooklyn, New York, is arguably the most anticipated card on the promotion’s calendar. That’s thanks in large part to the main event: a lightweight title fight between undefeated champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and streaking challenger Tony Ferguson.
Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have been scheduled to fight a whopping four times previously, but the bout has consistently failed to come to fruition.
The hope is that the fifth time will be the charm at UFC 249.
On Friday, the promotion dropped the official fight poster for the UFC 249 card, which features the profiles of Nurmagomedov and Ferguson, and also confirms the card will be co-headlined by a rematch between former UFC strawweight champs Rose Namajunas and Jessica Andrade.
See the UFC 249 poster below (via @UFC on Twitter).
https://twitter.com/ufc/status/1230635744462622721
Khabib Nurmagomedov will enter the UFC 249 main event with a flawless 28-0 record . In his last fight, he defended the UFC lightweight title with a dominant defeat of Dustin Poirier, which culminated with a third-round submission victory. In his next most recent outing, he defended the title in similar fashion, defeating his arch rival Conor McGregor via fourth-round submission.
Nurmagomedov won the vacant lightweight title in early 2018, defeating Al Iaquinta by decision. Other highlights of his record include defeats of Edson Barboza, Michael Johnson and Rafael dos Anjos.
Tony Ferguson, on the other hand, will enter this UFC 249 showdown with Nurmagomedov on a dazzling 12-fight win-streak. He last fought in June, when he battered Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone to a doctor stoppage win. In the fight that preceded that, he thumped Anthony Pettis to the same end. Other highlights of his current run include wins over Kevin Lee, Rafael dos Anjos, Edson Barboza and Josh Thomson.
Ferguson previously held the interim lightweight title, but was never promoted to undisputed champ.
This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 2/21/2020.