The long awaited showdown between lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson is being targeted for a UFC pay-per-view on April 18 in Brooklyn, N.Y.
Multiple sources confirmed the fight is currently in the works when speaking to MMA Fighting on Monday following an initial report from ESPN.
UFC president Dana White confirmed plans for the fight in April, although negotiations are still ongoing, which means nothing is official until both athletes have agreed to terms and return signed bout agreements.
Assuming both sides eventually come to terms, Nurmagomedov would clash with Ferguson on April 18 after the fight had previously been scheduled on four separate occasions.
Several injuries and a botched weight cut prevented the previous fights from happening but now the UFC will try to book Nurmagomedov against Ferguson again.
Undefeated through his entire career, Nurmagomedov will look for the third defense of his lightweight title after submitting both Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier in consecutive fights. Nurmagomedov has been a human wrecking machine since first arriving in the UFC but he may be facing his toughest test to date in April
Ferguson has rattled off 12 wins in a row in the lightweight division including a brief stint as interim champion after he defeated Kevin Lee in 2017.
In his last two outings, Ferguson has brutalized Anthony Pettis and Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone in a pair of TKO victories to cement his spot as the No. 1 contender at 155 pounds.
Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson will undoubtedly be one of the biggest fights of 2020 as the lightweights look to settle a long standing grudge after their four previous attempts to face each other fell apart.