Marc Goddard looks on during the bout between Cody Stamann and Terrion Ware during the UFC 213 event at T-Mobile Arena on July 9, 2017 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Rey Del Rio/Getty Images)
Marc Goddard is one of the top referees in the MMA world and wanted two former champions to return
UFC referee Marc Goddard was speaking to Helen Yee after the end of the 2020 series of events.
The UFC was able to hold some fantastic cards despite Covid-19 threatening to stop the promotion in its wake.
Dana White pressed on and even held events in Abu Dhabi (Fight Island) which earned him a lot of praise. While new champions and stars were made this year, some big names also bid farewell to the world of MMA.
Daniel Cormier, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Henry Cejudo all retired from the sport this year. Cejudo and Khabib were champions when they decided to take off their gloves while DC ended his career after a loss to Stipe Miocic.
Goddard claimed all of this was a normal cycle as age was catching up to a few but wanted some of these retired stars to return.
Yee pressed the MMA referee to open up on who these stars were and he named two of them.
Goddard brought up Cejudo and Khabib in this discussion. Both stars retired at the top of their game and the MMA referee believed they would come back:
“Maybe Henry, maybe Khabib, I don’t know.
“Obviously Khabib, it was an emotional thing he was saying afterwards when he beat Justin Gaethje and what he said to his mom that he wouldn’t fight again etc.
“The guy is on the cusp of probably the greatest legacy in this sport. You don’t get undefeated fighters in MMA, not at that championship level.”
White has hinted that Khabib could come back for another fight while Goddard hoped it would be a super 30th fight against the legendary Georges St-Pierre.
He also believed that Cejudo had achieved a lot in his career and didn’t know what else Triple C had left to do in the MMA world:
“Henry as well, obviously, Cejudo, you know a guy, what more is left for him to achieve? Olympic gold medalist, two weight world champion, the guy is at the top of his game.
“Even as a fan of the sport, I just want to see those people come back.”
It will be interesting to see if either of the two return to the MMA world in 2021. The UFC is now on a bit of a break and some big fights are already being set for 2021.
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