The UFC bantamweight star, Said Nurmagomedov, was all set to fight Daniel Santos in the preliminary card of UFC 308. This was one of the matchups that pitted two strong fighters with impressive MMA records against each other. But just a few days before the scheduled date, the ‘Willycat’ pulled out of the bout. Needless to say, this was pretty devastating for Dana White as well as Khabib Nurmagomedov’s teammate. 

This left Said Nurmagomedov and the UFC head honcho in a great dilemma. While the real reason why Santos pulled out of the bout remains unclear, White needed to find a replacement for the Russian bantamweight prospect, and he had to act soon. Thankfully, there was a fighter who had his eyes set on fighting at Etihad Arena, Abu Dhabi. It was none other than ‘InnerG’ Charles Johnson. 

As soon as Johnson stumbled upon the news, he took to X and wrote, “I want to do great things in this life. I like the fight. Said Nurmogamedov is great. So am I.” This was definitely something that the UFC head honcho was looking for. With 17 victories and 6 losses in his professional MMA career, Johnson seemed like the perfect replacement for the Nurmagomedov. On top of his impressive record, ‘InnerG’ currently boasts a 4-fight winning streak. The American then went ahead to tag White, and the matchmakers, Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard, to give him a call. 

Although Dana White can now rest assured regarding the matchup for Said Nurmagomedov, he initially had a different plan for the Russian fighter. Unfortunately, the plan never got realized. Let’s find out why!

What happened to Dana White’s previous plan for Said Nurmagomedov?

Well, the UFC head honcho wanted to make Nurmagomedov fight against Montel Jackson during the MMA promotion’s debut in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It would have been the first fight for the Makhachkala resident in 2024. However, the Dagestani mixed martial artist pulled out of the fight. The fighting community still wonders why Nurmagomedov had his fight in June canceled. In his stead, it was Farid Basharat who got the chance to fight against Jackson. But later on, the fight was completely scrapped off the card, and the reason was never really revealed to the public. 

However, things are a bit different this time around. Nurmagomedov is the reason for the cancelation of the fight. With his last fight against Muin Gafurov ending in a victory via guillotine choke in the very first round, the fight fans seemed to have quite a bit of expectation from Nurmagomedov. After all, he is a member of Team Khabib.

Even though ‘InnerG’ has come to the front lines and directly asked the matchmakers to fix him against the Russians, the fate of the fight is something that only time can decide. Do you think the UFC CEO would let Johnson fight Nurmagomedov in Abu Dhabi? Who do you think would win in case the fight materialized? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.