As a fight fan, it was clear to me that Tony Ferguson got "Robocop"ed by Dana and the UFC...
Dana / the UFC purposely told Khabib that the fight "
99.9% will be in Abu Dabhi (UAE)":
Meanwhile, Dana / the UFC
did not tell Ferguson's team the fight will be in Abu Dabhi,
so his team remained in the US...
Khabib and his team flew out of the US, only to get stuck and couldn't come back.
And voila, a perfect setup and excuse to book Ferguson vs. Gaethje, a surprised opponent stylistically at the last minutes, who caught him off guard.
Tony, being the fighter that he is (just like officer Murphy) did not back down from a fight...