‘He Was Getting Hurt All the Time’- Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Nutritionist Explains Why Khabib Missed Weight For Tony Ferguson Fight in 2017

Khabib Nurmagomedov was a UFC Champion, but one of the biggest sacrifices he made for it was his weight. Khabib was not a small fighter and had to regularly cut down a lot to make the 155-pound weight limit. He went through most of his career making weight, except one fight in 2013. However, that count could technically be at two.

Khabib was scheduled to face Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title at UFC 209, but the fight fell through after ‘The Eagle’ had to be hospitalized because of issues with his weight cut. Nurmagomedov’s nutritionist has finally revealed what was the reason behind Khabib’s weight-making struggles.

“He was getting hurt all the time. When you hear from most fighters that miss weight, there are going to be some fighters that have a story of how they were hurt during camo and couldn’t train. And that was just Khabib a lot. He wasn’t able to do the extra stuff to train, he was taking all this time off to train. And a lot of that was that it really was.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov: Was the weight cut an issue throughout his career?

Khabib Nurmagomedov was a big lightweight. While he wasn’t the tallest, he was definitely one of the strongest in the division. Everyone used to suggest that 170 may be a more natural weight class for ‘The Eagle’. However, Khabib continued fighting at 155 and only missed weight once in his career.

A lot of the reasons outlined above would also explain why he failed to make weight against Abel Trujillo in 2013. He never even made it to the scale against Tony, getting hospitalized before the pair could show up on weigh-ins. ‘El Cucuy’ would also be pulled from the fight card because of a lung issue.

READ MORE: ‘Dana White Lost Me’- Khabib Nurmagomedov Reiterates His Desire to Stay Retired

Khabib proved doubters about his weight cutting wrong after consistently making the limit as a championship fighter. For a man to struggle with the cut every time and still do it 13 times in the UFC is admirable.