The stakes may be a lot higher in the fifth attempt to book the [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] vs. [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] fight, but Ali Abdelaziz says the process was smooth sailing.

UFC lightweight champion Nurmagomedov (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) will defend his title against Tony Ferguson (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) at UFC 249 on April 18 in Brooklyn, N.Y., in a matchup that has been a long time coming.

“It’s easy,” Abdelaziz told MMA Junkie. “Khabib has a really good contract. His job is to defend his belt against the best of the best. I feel like Khabib, 28-0, undefeated, 12-0 in the UFC, Tony’s (won 12 in a row) – I believe Tony is the right guy. He deserves it. He earned it. He’s been asking for this ass whooping for a long time. They should have fought five times.

“It was March or April, that was the date, and we thought Brooklyn – it’s a good place to have the fight. The UFC was an easy process – no problem. We got it done. I know Tony had a little bit of a hiccup, but his team and him got it done, too. I think it’s all good. The fight is happening.”

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Nurmagomedov won the vacant 155-pound title at UFC 223 in Brooklyn when he beat Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision. He was initially scheduled to face Ferguson, but a freak accident forced Ferguson out the fight.

Both Nurmagomedov and Ferguson have been forced to pull out twice each in their four previously scheduled bouts. Abdelaziz thinks the long journey, and how far both fighters have come, is what makes this fight even bigger.

“You cannot find a better story, a better fight, better – just a pure martial art form of fight than this fight.”

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The third time’s supposed to be the charm, but a pair of the world’s best lightweights have gone above that already.

UFC lightweight champion [autotag]Khabib Nurmagomedov[/autotag] (28-0 MMA, 12-0 UFC) and former interim champ [autotag]Tony Ferguson[/autotag] (25-3 MMA, 15-1 UFC) have been booked to fight four times already. They’ve had fights scrapped in each year from 2015-2018. Now they’ve put pen to paper for a fifth time, hoping this will be the one that sticks.

Ferguson signed his end of the booking agreement late Friday and now will challenge for Nurmagomedov’s belt in April.

With the fight official, the early betting odds have champ Nurmagomedov a decent favorite. Nurmagomedov is a -250 favorite at BetMGM.com. The comeback on Ferguson is +180.

In other words, a $100 bet on Cerrone would pay out $280 (including the original $100 wager) if he pulls the upset. A $100 bet on Nurmagomedov would pay out about $140 (including the original $100 wager) if he wins.

The UFC’s April pay-per-view doesn’t yet have an event number assigned to it, but takes place April 18 at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, N.Y. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims likely for ESPN and early prelims on UFC Fight Pass/ESPN+.

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Nurmagomedov is No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMA Junkie MMA lightweight rankings. Ferguson sits just behind him at No. 2. Nurmagomedov also is No. 1 on the pound-for-pound list. Ferguson checks in at No. 11 on that chart.

The unbeaten Nurmagomedov won the vacant lightweight title at UFC 223 in April 2018, also in Brooklyn, with a unanimous decision against Al Iaquinta. For that fight, Nurmagomedov had been scheduled to fight – you guessed it – Ferguson. But Ferguson injured his knee and was forced to pull out. Featherweight champion Max Holloway attempted to step up on short notice, but was pulled after a bad weight cut, so Iaquinta was drafted from further down the card.

After the title win, Nurmagomedov submitted former dual champ Conor McGregor at UFC 229, then set off the now-infamous post-fight brawl with McGregor’s team. That led to a suspension and huge fine from the Nevada Athletic Commission.

In September, Nurmagomedov had his second successful title defense with a third-round submission of Dustin Poirier in the UFC 242 main event in Abu Dhabi.

Ferguson has won 12 straight fights, but fought just once in 2017, 2018 and 2019. Still, he has eight post-fight bonus awards in his past eight fights, including “Fight of the Night” TKOs of former lightweight champ Anthony Pettis at UFC 229 in 2018 and Donald Cerrone earlier this year at UFC 238.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship, and there is no influence on news coverage.

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