Despite Dana White’s best attempts to make fights fans believe that current Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov, will fight again, “The Eagle” is adamant he won’t.
In fact, not even potential big-money rematches against Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier will be enough to lure Nurmagomedov out of retirement.
“There are many questions about whether I will be back to competing or not. However, I don’t have such plans,” reiterated Nurmagomedov during a recent interview with Igor Lazorin (via MMA Junkie).
“First, he will probably offer money,” Nurmagomedov said regarding White’s efforts to convince him to fight again. But as “The Eagle” sees it, there is no reason to fight two men he already defeated handily.
“What for? I choked both [Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier]. Why should I do this?”
For Khabib — who has made plenty of money during his time with UFC — the only reason to face either of them would be for money, seeing as how there really isn’t any sporting a factor involved since he has already proved to be the superior fighter.
“Yes, only money. There is no sports interest there,” Nurmagomedov said. “I choked both of them, both were champions, both surrendered to me. As our proverb says: a horse doesn’t run until the donkey wins.
“Donkeys don’t even take part in competitions where horses run. I have no interest in fighting against these opponents. Imagine UFC offered you $100 million. This is already a problem. But there is no sports interest there.”
That’s quite a proverb.
Still, White recently revealed that he is set to meet with Nurmagomedov soon to discuss his future. That said, the outspoken president needs to bring more than his checkbook if he wants to convince the undefeated (29-0, 13-0 UFC) champion to change his mind.