While a video featuring Javier Mendez might have recently raised
hopes of a Khabib
Nurmagomedov UFC return, the
American Kickboxing Academy coach sent those hopes crashing
back to reality just as quickly.
Advertisement
The former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight king bid farewell to
the sport with a perfect record after defending his strap against
Justin
Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020. There have since been
numerous attempts to bring him out of retirement and several rumors
of a pending return, but none have come to fruition.
Recently, a video featuring Mendez on social media sparked new
rumors of a Nurmagomedov comeback. As his coach at AKA, Mendez is
known to share a special bond with the former lightweight champ. In
the aforementioned video, Mendez says that
Nurmagomedov trains with him only when he is ready to fight and
that “The Eagle” is currently training with him.
While Mendez didn’t confirm if Nurmagomedov would return, the clip
was enough prompt talks of a potential return at UFC
300. However, the AKA head coach has since responded to the
clip, shutting down all talk of Nurmagomedov ever competing
again.
“I’m just letting you guys know that, you know, stop all this
nonsense [on the internet] regarding Khabib [coming back to the
UFC] and me and him training,” Mendez said in a video shared by Helen Yee. “There’s been no
such thing happening. We’re not discussing training. We never have.
Khabib is still devoted to what he said [about not fighting again].
He’s devoted his time to his family. He’s not working people’s
corners. He’s not gonna ever fight. To my knowledge, it has never
been spoken about.”