Dana White was talking at the UFC 259 press conference and gave his thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov

UFC president stated at the UFC 259 presser that he would have dinner with Khabib Nurmagomedov and his team in order to discuss the Russian’s future.

‘The Eagle’ called it a day at UFC 254 after beating Justin Gaethje and going 29-0 in professional MMA. And since then, his return has been expected.

But that has not looked like coming. He has been coy over speaking about making a comeback on UFC despite his agent and coach indicating that he could.

White has, for long, made efforts to bring him back. He now spoke at the press conference ahead of UFC 259 and stated that a return is not off the cards.

“You don’t hear Khabib saying ‘leave me alone, stop asking me’ so, there’ still a chance. That’s the way I look at it.”

"There's still a chance [Khabib returns]. That's the way I look at it."@danawhite says he will have dinner with @TeamKhabib this weekend. pic.twitter.com/isMGuxsyOd

— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) March 4, 2021

Dana White unsure over future of lightweight division

White did not say a lot about the future of the lightweight division at the moment but did mention that Khabib is always welcome to come back and defend his belt again.

Dana White says he'll have dinner with Khabib this weekend and talk, but doesn't give much of an update on lightweight. Says they have to let fights play out.

— Brett Okamoto (@bokamotoESPN) March 4, 2021

“I think that a lot of these fights have to play out in that division, from 9, all the way op to number 1. They’re incredible fights. You can mix or match them any way you want, and they’re really good fights. Let some of these play out to see who will fight next for the title. And I think if Khabib is interested, he’ll take the fight.”

The Russian has almost held the belt hostage for months now. Charles Oliveira looked like he was going to have a title fight after Dustin Poirier beat Conor McGregor at UFC 257.

But that hasn’t happened as Poirier has . It seems like White is not willing to decide anything for sure until he knows what Khabib’s decision is.

Till then, the division will have to keep waiting.

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