4 UFC wishes for 2020
The year 2020 is upon us and with a big 2019 in the books for the UFC – their first under the new deal with ESPN – the world’s biggest MMA promotion will be hoping for another successful calendar year this time around.
With plenty of shows in store and 5 title fights already booked for the first quarter of the year, we should be in for a roller-coaster ride but undoubtedly, at least a handful of things will go wrong. After all, they always do in the world of MMA.
In an ideal world, though, the following 4 wishes would come true in the UFC in 2020.
#1 Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson will actually happen
UFC 249 is currently scheduled to take place on April 18th in Brooklyn, New York, and tentatively set to main event the show is the long awaited clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson, with the UFC Lightweight title on the line. But will 2020 be the year that the fight finally happens? Every fan of MMA must hope so.
After all, this is a fight that the UFC has attempted to book before – on no less than four separate occasions since 2015 – and every time it has fallen apart at the last hurdle, with both men being forced out with injuries twice respectively. The last time the promotion signed the fight off, Ferguson somehow blew out his knee during a press conference – essentially, it’s hardly a stretch to call it cursed.
But hopefully, 2020 will be the year that the curse is broken. Although it’ll be hard to believe the fight will actually happen until the two men enter the Octagon, it’s still easy for any MMA fan to salivate over the prospect of Ferguson trying to use his unorthodox striking and grappling to combat the stifling wrestling game of ‘The Eagle’. If this fight takes place, it could be an all-time classic – so let’s hope that it does.