Kevin Lee celebrates victory against Gregor Gillespie in the lightweight bout during UFC 244 (Photo by Steven Ryan/Getty Images)
Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his official retirement, a couple of months ago in March
Khabib Nurmagomedov hung up his gloves after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020. Despite the Russian retiring from the sport due to a promise he made to his mother, a lot of rumours were afloat saying that he would return.
However, Khabib confirmed his official retirement, two months ago, on the 18th of March.
Elsewhere, number 11 ranked lightweight Kevin Lee who is planning to move to the welterweight division, revealed who the number one pound-for-pound fighter was after the retirement and Khabib.
‘The Motown Phenom’ felt that ‘The Nigerian Nightmare’ Kamaru Usman is the number one pound-for-pound fighter according to. Usman is actually second in the pound-for-pound fighters list.
Lee also spoke about why he has decided to move up to the welterweight division.
“Welterweight is starting to really pick up. With Khabib retiring Kamaru Usman is the new number one pound-for-pound fighter right now. So, that gives me somebody to shoot for, you know, I love a big challenge. Once I saw that, and I saw his last performance against Jorge [Masvidal], that’s when I made up my mind – ‘I’m going up.'”
It is a well known fact that Khabib Nurmagomedov is a man of his word. There is absolutely no chance that he would comeback for a fight.
However, Kevin Lee doesn’t think so. He feels that Khabib’s recent official retirement was just ‘unofficial’. He even said that ‘The Eagle’ would surely fight, a couple of years down the line.
“I was sad to see him go, I ain’t gonna lie. I was sad to see him go, but I think he will be back. It’s unofficial retirement in my eyes. For a couple of years he’d probably be gone, yeah I was sad to see that, for sure.”
No amount of money would ever entice someone like Khabib for a fight.
He has now found a new role. The Eagle has been coaching his fellow Dagestani brother across various promotions. He is undefeated as a coach as well. Having started coaching in 2021, he is already 4-0 up.
Follow our dedicated UFC page for instant UFC news and updates
