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Nurmagomedov-Iaquinta announced as UFC 223 main event

Christopher Hanewinckel / USA TODAY Sports

After an unbelievably hectic week, Khabib Nurmagomedov finally knows who he will face Saturday night at UFC 223.

The UFC announced a fight between Nurmagomedov and New York native Al Iaquinta for Saturday's main event in Brooklyn.

Initially, it was announced that if Nurmagomedov (25-0) wins, he will be the lightweight champion, but a victory for Iaquinta (13-3) will not give him the belt because he did not weigh in under 155 pounds exactly. However, Dana White said at Friday evening's press conference that Iaquinta will be considered the champion if he wins, though the New York State Athletic Commission may not agree.

Iaquinta, currently sitting 11th in the UFC rankings, weighed in at 155.2 lbs - 0.2 pounds over the championship limit. Typically, Iaquinta would have an additional two hours to cut the rest of the weight, but by the time he found out he was in the running to take on Nurmagomedov, that time had passed.

The 30-year-old lightweight was initially scheduled to fight Paul Felder on the card, but after Max Holloway was removed from the main event and negotiations with Anthony Pettis appeared to fall through, he is now being asked to move up to take on Nurmagomedov, who was originally supposed to fight interim champ Tony Ferguson for the belt.

Iaquinta is on a five-fight winning streak, most recently defeating Diego Sanchez in April 2017 via first-round knockout. He has lost just once since 2013; however, he was inactive from April 2015 until his win over Sanchez reportedly due to a contract dispute with the UFC.

Ironically, Iaquinta was the only fighter at media day Thursday to not have a sign with his name on it provided by the UFC.

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