It doesn’t sound like Dana White will have much luck persuading
Khabib
Nurmagomedov to make a comeback when the two meet in Abu Dhabi
next month.
In an interview with
Match TV, Nurmagomedov stated that he expects a new lightweight
champion to be crowned when Conor
McGregor and Dustin
Poirier square off in the UFC 257 headliner on Jan. 23.
“Top three [lightweight] fighters right now?” Nurmagomedov said
(translation via
RT Sport). “Poirier, McGregor and [Islam] Makhachev. He
[Makhachev] is not in the top-five yet, but those are the best
fighters.
“My belt will be taken by the winner of Dustin and Conor.”
Nurmagomedov announced his retirement following a victory over
Justin
Gaethje in the UFC 254 headliner this past October. Though many
expected “The Eagle” to take one more fight in hopes of finishing
his career with a 30-0 record to fulfill the wishes of his late
father, Nurmagomedov revealed in the Octagon that he made a promise
to his mother that he would retire after the bout. Abdulmanap
Nurmagomedov died of complications related to COVID-19 earlier this
year.
The UFC has not vacated the lightweight title, and there has been
no announcement regarding the championship status of
McGregor-Poirier as of yet. That is likely because White still has
hope that he can convince Nurmagomedov to come back.
“I think his dad wanting him to get to 30-0 is in the back of his
mind, and he wants to achieve that because he knew his father
wanted it,” White
said recently. “But we’ll see. Him and I are getting together
[in January] and talk. He might not want to fight, I don’t know the
answer to that. But I’m a little confident that I can talk him into
it.”
Nurmagomedov acknowledged that he has engaged in preliminary
conversation with White regarding a return, but it seems as though
the Dagestani star is not especially interested in the
possibility.
“We are in touch with Dana White, we have not discussed why the
belt is not vacant,” Nurmagomedov said (translation via TASS). “Apparently
they want me to come back. I have been in league for nine years,
there is already a history, a fan base, their desires are clear. I
will not hide the fact that they offer to return, offer conditions,
fighters. We will meet with Dana soon, we will discuss. I would not
like there to be a possibility that I will return.”