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3rd April 2018
03:49pm BST

“They’re 0-3 there, so somebody might get scrapped, so I’ll be ready for that.”As everyone knows by now, UFC 223 has had a last minute headline change. A knee injury suffered by Ferguson means that he has been ruled out of the biggest fight of his career. On six days' notice, featherweight champion Max Holloway will step up and fight Nurmagomedov for the soon-to-be-vacant lightweight belt. Unfortunately for Alvarez, he just wasn't ready to step in to fight the undefeated Dagestani. https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/981169238499979278
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/980770444067377152“It would have been great to be ready for that fight and be ready to step in and save the day, but unfortunately, I am way, way too big to make the 155-pound limit on six days’ notice. I think most guys at 155, especially in the top five, can’t make that 155-pound limit on six days’ notice.”
He added that fighting such an elite specialist like Nurmagomedov on such short notice would have been a terrible idea. In his eyes, cardio would be crucial in that match-up. He did, however, praise Holloway for answering the call.“I’ll be honest, I’m disappointed in myself a little bit because I kind of had the foresight to see this happening. I even talked about it happening but when it got like three to four weeks out, I just said ‘Fuck it, these guys are gonna fight. There’s really no reason for me to be ready.’"
“I’m every bit of 190 right now so there wasn’t even a small chance that I could make 155. What I did do was speak we the UFC all day long and we explored other options. I asked about doing a catchweight, welterweight but all they asked me was what’s the lowest that I could get to. That was most of our conversation. I’m probably a little more than 190. I’m heavier than I’ve ever been because I haven’t fought in a long time.”
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