Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia compete against Dustin Poirier of United States in their Lightweight Title Bout during the UFC 242 event (Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images)
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s coach, Javier Mendez, opened up on the possible fighters who could fight for the Russian’s title and named Dustin Poirier as one of them
Javier Mendez was on the Schmozone podcast as he spoke on several topics related to Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The coach of the Russian was asked about Khabib’s retirement and about his future plans too. Mendez was in Dubai but he was also taken aback by Khabib’s decision to retire after UFC 254.
Khabib ended his career at 29-0 and Mendez was with the Russian all the way. He couldn’t say when Khabib would be back but whatever the Russian was planning, Mendez was with him.
There were also reports of Khabib suggesting that the winner of Dustin Poirier vs Conor McGregor should fight for his Lightweight title.
Poirier vs McGregor is one of the big UFC fights from 2021 and Mendez shared his thoughts on this match-up:
“The rightful person who should be fighting for the title is Dustin against anybody. To me, they got one of the right persons in there.
“Conor would be the second right one and it could be Justin Gaethje, he could be the next guy or it could be Michael Chandler or [Charles] Oliveira.
“What matters is that Dustin is in the title hunt because he is the one, in my opinion, who is most deserving of a title shot.”
Mendez also spoke about Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap, wanting the Russian to go 30-0 and fight Georges St-Pierre in his final fight.
Abdulmanap passed away before Khabib defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. However, Mendez spoke about the one person who could take Khabib out of retirement and it wasn’t GSP:
“For that to happen, he would have to go through the No.1 person that he promised he’d retire and that would be his mother, not me.
“He would have to clear it with his mother before he decides to do anything.”
Khabib and Dana White are to meet later this month and the UFC president was hopeful that he could change the Russian’s mind about retirement.
Mendez also shared his thoughts regarding this. Khabib’s coach believed that money wasn’t the motivator for Khabib to return and maybe the GSP fight could change his mind.
However, Mendez was quick to say that these were his thoughts and he had no discussions with Khabib about his return.
This was an exclusive interview from The Schmozone Podcast. For more exclusive interviews and content please follow the link.
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