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UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov surprisingly retired after his fight last month, but a tweet sent out Tuesday by someone within the Russian UFC superstar’s inner circle just sparked new rumors that the 32-year-old could be on his way back to the Octagon for one final superfight.
Nurmagomedov’s manager, Ali Abdelaziz, implied the lightweight champ from Dagestan might have just changed his mind about retiring from UFC action.
Abdelaziz posted, “30-0”.
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Will Nurmagomedov Fight Again?
Nurmagomedov is currently 29-0. He defended his UFC lightweight championship by submitting Justin Gaethje in the second round at UFC 254 in October.
After that win, Nurmagomedov shockingly announced his retirement from the sport.
“Today’s my last fight in the UFC,” Nurmagomeov told ESPN’s Jon Anik, and the fighter cited the recent death of his father as the main reason he was calling it quits.
But something seems to have changed with the champ over recent weeks, at least according to Nurmagomedov’s manager.
If you recall, it was also Abdelaziz who previously revealed that Khabib’s father hoped to see his son retire after going 30-0.
Combined with the news that UFC president Dana White has been in talks with Nurmagomedov over the past few weeks (which is why the fighter remains listed as the UFC’s lightweight champion), it would seem Nurmagomedov might not be staying retired for very long at all.
Khabib could be gunning for 30-0.
What Superfight Could Lure Khabib Back to UFC?
If that’s the case, it could only mean one thing: that the long-desired superfight between Nurmagomedov and UFC legend Georges St-Pierre might still be on the table.
In fact, if “The Eagle” truly has changed his mind about his retirement plans, the only thing that probably could have swayed him back to the UFC so soon would be a chance to face “GSP”.
Khabib vs. GSP has long been teased as a potential superfight between two of the most accomplished UFC champions ever, but it has yet to materialize.
Even before his last fight, Nurmagomedov consistently stated during fight week that the only fight he remained interested in taking after UFC 254 would be against the former welterweight and middleweight champion, GSP.
For his part, St-Pierre said he was considering it a real possibility, too.
“I would have considered it,” St-Pierre said per ESPN. “Yeah of course. Who would not have done it? For a fighter, the most exciting thing is also most often the scariest things to do. Fighting someone who has the aura of invincibility is very scary. But, it’s also very exciting for a competitor.”
Khabib vs. GSP remains just a rumor at this point, but the superfight seems more alive today than it has been in a long time, or at least since Nurmagomedov retired after UFC 254.
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