White: Nurmagomedov blew out knee 20 minutes after Cerrone fight confirmed

DUBLIN – Khabib Nurmagomedov (22-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) is out of a planned fight with Donald Cerrone at UFC 178 after injuring his knee, UFC President Dana White said today.

“That fight was done,” he said. “(UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva sent the email out, and 20 minutes later, (Nurmagomedov) went into the gym and blew his knee out. Twenty minutes. So that fight’s off.”

It’s a bad piece of luck for the Dagestan-born fighter, who was targeted by Cerrone (24-6 MMA, 11-3 UFC) prior to his knockout victory over Jim Miller (24-5 MMA, 13-4 UFC) at Wednesday’s UFC Fight Night 45.

Although Nurmagomedov has struggled to convince top-ranked opponents to fight him, Cerrone, who sits at No. 12 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie.com MMA lightweight rankings, said he would be happy to take on the Sambo master, who is ranked at No. 7.

The UFC subsequently booked the fight for UFC 178, which takes place Sept. 27 in Las Vegas. A venue has yet to be announced for the pay-per-view event.

The scratch makes a rematch between Cerrone and Nate Diaz all the more attractive, and Cerrone on Wednesday told MMAjunkie he’d be happy to fight the rival in his next bout, but a contract stalemate between the brash lightweight and UFC remains.

Cerrone has finished his past four opponents inside the octagon, however, and should be in line for a top-five opponent.

Khabib’s coach, Sam Kardan, declined to comment on the injury.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 45, check out the UFC Events section of the site. And for more on UFC 178, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

(Pictured: Khabib Nurmagomedov)