Khabib Nurmagomedov shocked the world after he retired post UFC 254 but Dana White doesn’t believe the Russian is done
UFC president Dana White opened up on the talks of Khabib Nurmagomedov being retired from MMA.
The Eagle, as Khabib is called, called his time in the promotion after defending his UFC Lightweight title at UFC 254.
He defeated Justin Gaethje with relative ease and shortly after took off his gloves to signal the end of the road for him.
Khabib ended his career at 29-0 and was emotionally broken after the clash. He promised his mother that he wouldn’t fight after this and the loss of his father earlier in the year also took a toll on him.
Questions have been asked about Khabib’s future and White didn’t believe the Russian was done:
“He was super emotional after that fight. He got the measles, the mumps, whatever, then he broke his toe leading into that fight, took the fight and the passing of his father, I just think he was super emotional in the moment that night.
“I am not saying he is 100% going to come out but I get the feeling that he will.”
Believing Khabib will come back for one more fight, Dana White tells @bokamotoESPN that the lightweight belt will not be vacated. pic.twitter.com/VavLbIQUyT
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 1, 2020
No other titleholders
While there is no confirmation of when Khabib will fight next, White did confirm that no interim titleholder would be named.
Further, he wasn’t going to strip Khabib of the championship or vacate it either:
“He is the Lightweight champion, there is no vacant belt. No interim title, no vacant title, none of that.”
The UFC president also had no idea of what Khabib’s 30th fight could be like. The Russian has spoken of facing the legendary Georges St-Pierre in that 30th fight but that is a discussion for the future.
It will be interesting to see what Khabib has to say regarding White’s comments. The UFC president might be trying to control the damage caused by the Russian’s retirement.
Henry Cejudo, a two-division UFC champion also retired earlier in the year and losing Khabib would be big for the promotion too.
Khabib is a man of his word and it is unlikely he will be back now. However, that 30-0 record could be enticing in the future and It will be interesting to see who Khabib might face then.
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