UFC president Dana White has extinguished the flames surrounding a possible comeback fight for former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. On Thursday, the UFC head honcho posted a tribute message for The Eagle on his social media accounts, thanking him for his time with the company and congratulating him for his retirement.
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Khabib left the sport with an unblemished 29-0 record and will go down as one of the best fighters to ever grace the Octagon. There were speculations that the Dagestani grappler would want to end his career with an even 30-0 record and chase a final big-money fight to end his UFC career.
He surprisingly announced his retirement from MMA shortly after finishing Justin Gaethje with a triangle choke in the main event of UFC 254 last October.
At only 32 years old, Khabib now describes himself simply as an MMA promoter, purchasing Russian-based promotion Gorilla Fighting Championship (GFC MMA) upon his retirement and renaming it to Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC).
Khabib hanging up his gloves for good is a sad day for fight fans everywhere, considering he is just entering his prime. The UFC lightweight division is as talent-stacked as it's ever been today, as there's no shortage of marquee fights that Khabib could have participated in. Obviously, there's a rematch with his bitter rival Conor McGregor, whom Khabib has refused to fight anymore after their controversial first encounter.
Contenders like Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler could have been intriguing matchups for The Eagle, while a rematch with Gaethje and Dustin Poirier could have been enticing as well.
Guess we'll never see Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC as a fighter anymore.
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