We’ve got a date.
24 October is scheduled to be when UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and interim UFC lightweight champion Justin Gaethje square off in a title unification bout.
However, UFC President Dana White could not yet confirm a venue and location for the bout when he spoke to CNN.
Nurmagomedov – Gaethje was originaly set to be booked for September. However, those plans were shelved as Dagestan’s Nurmagomedov was given time to grieve following the tragic loss of his father, who died due to complications from COVID-19 at the beginning of July.
“It’s been very rough on him,” White said when speaking to CNN. “His father was a hero to him, he loved his father, they had a very close relationship and it was very hard on him.”
Despite that, White is confident that we will be seeing Khabib back in the Octagon sooner than expected to defend and unify the UFC lightweight championship against Gaethje.
“It’s going to happen,” White told CNN. “[I] tell you right here right now: that fight is going to happen.”
Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson in violent fashion to claim the interim championship back at UFC 249 in May – the first event the promotion held behind closed doors amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.