Tony Ferguson injured, out of Khabib Nurmagomedov bout at UFC on FOX 19
There is no escaping the injury bug. UFC lightweight contender Tony Ferguson became the latest causality to MMA's injury scourge on Tuesday, being forced to withdraw from his headlining bout against Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC on FOX 19 after suffering a setback in training.
UFC officials confirmed the news following an initial report by FOX Sports.
Usually I can Power thru small Bumps & Bruises. Doc Said I have Fluid/Blood in my Lung #UFCTampa I Will Heal Up. I Will be Back.#TeamElCucuy
— Tony Ferguson (@TonyFergusonXT) April 5, 2016
The match-up between Ferguson and Nurmagomedov was assumed to be a No. 1 contender bout which would decide the next challenger for the UFC lightweight title.
Despite reports stating otherwise, the UFC is currently searching for a replacement opponent to keep Nurmagomedov on the card, sources close to the situation told MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani.
If a replacement opponent is unable to be found, UFC on FOX 19's original co-main event -- a light heavyweight fight between Rashad Evans and Glover Teixeira -- will be upgraded to a five-round main event, with a featherweight contest between Cub Swanson and Hacran Dias bumped up to round out the new four-fight main card.
UFC on FOX 19 takes place April 16 at the Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida.
The event represented a long-awaited return for Nurmagomedov (22-0), an undefeated Sambo savant who demolished UFC lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos in mid-2014, but has since been sidelined with a litany of injuries.
It also marked the second time a planned bout between he and Ferguson (20-3) has failed to come to fruition. The two were previously slated to fight on Dec. 11, 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale, however another Nurmagomedov injury resulted in "El Cucuy" running his win streak to seven straight with a thrilling second-round submission over Edson Barboza.
An updated UFC on FOX 19 card can be seen below.
Main Card (FOX, 8 p.m. ET)
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. TBD
Rashad Evans vs. Glover Teixeira
Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida
Rose Namajunas vs. Tecia Torres
Preliminary Card (FOX, 6 p.m. ET)
Michael Chiesa vs. Beneil Dariush
Hacran Dias vs. Cub Swanson
John Dodson vs. Manny Gamburyan
Court McGee vs. Santiago Ponzinibbio
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass, 4 p.m. ET)
Bethe Correia vs. Raquel Pennington
Randy Brown vs. Michael Graves
Cezar Ferreira vs. Caio Magalhaes
Drew Dober vs. Islam Makhachev
Omari Akhmedov vs. Elizeu Zaleski