Abu Dhabi Could Host Khabib Vs Poirier In September

Russian UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov could be set to fight against American interim champion Dustin Poirier in Abu Dhabi on September 7, sources told MMA Fighting.

The respected UFC website said the event is one of three international cards the UFC will hold in 2019.

Nurmagomedov has previously said he is in talks to fight in Abu Dhabi in September. Following Poirier's surprise win against Max Holloway earlier this month, the Russian is set to take on the US interim champion. 

UFC, which was up until last year part-owned by Abu Dhabi, previously held two events in the UAE capital - in 2010 and 2014. The first was a pay-per-view card, with UFC 112 taking place in April that saw Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn fighting against Demian Maia and Frankie Edgar, respectively.

The second, four years later, was a Fight Night headlined by Roy Nelson versus Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.

This year, UFC will hold an August 10 Fight Night in Montevideo, Uruguay, to mark its third card in a South American country (outside of Brazil) after its 2018 events in Chile, which featured Kamaru Usman playing against Demian Maia, and a show in Argentina which was headlined by Santiago Ponzinibbio versus Neil Magny.

UFC also has a pay-per-view event scheduled for May 11 in Rio de Janeiro, before making its final 2019 trip to Brazil on November 16 in Sao Paulo.