Manager Ali Abdelaziz is not ruling out a return to action for Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov announced he would be retiring from the sport following his successful lightweight title defense over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 last month.
However, UFC president Dana White would later reveal he spoke with “The Eagle” and thought he would come back eventually to aim for a 30-0 record.
Additionally, the UFC head honcho is refusing to strip Nurmagomedov of the lightweight title or make the upcoming Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier fight for a vacant strap.
It seems he is confident of Nurmagomedov returning — so what does Abdelaziz think of his client potentially returning?
“He’s a competitor,” Abdelaziz told ESPN. “Four days later [after his retirement], he was in the gym training. He was repping with Abubakar [Nurmagomedov].
“I just know him and I know Dana. And these two together, I don’t know, I don’t want to say something that’s not true… but let these guys talk, let him enjoy life. … He’s different man. It’s not financial. it’s going to be up to them.”
Only St-Pierre Makes Sense For Nurmagomedov
As for who Nurmagomedov would come back for, the option remains the same — a super fight with Georges St-Pierre.
While Abdelaziz believes it could be one of the biggest fights of all time, he feels the reason it never happened is because “GSP” never committed to fighting at lightweight.
“I feel this fight never happened because Georges never committed to 155 pounds,” Abdelaziz explained. “I know Dana White very well and the UFC — they’re not going to go ahead and take the risk and you have a champion who lost because Georges is very tough. I’m not going to say Khabib is going go in there and smash him. I don’t know. It’s a fight.
“And I feel if this is what would have happened [St-Pierre committing to 155], Dana White would have made this fight tomorrow. But I feel like Georges said, ‘why do I need to make 155?’ He’s always talking about a catchweight. And he probably can make it [155] but he’s almost 40 years old, his recovery isn’t the same but I feel this is the only option.”
As far as Nurmagomedov is concerned, however, he is already focused on life after fighting.
