Earlier today (Tues., June 4, 2019), it was announced that the much-anticipated Lightweight title unification fight between division king, Khabib Nurmagomedov, and interim champion, Dustin Poirier, was finally official for UFC 242, which set to go down at UFC 242 on Sept. 7, 2019 in Abu Dhabi.
In other good news, ESPN’s Brett Okamoto is reporting that “The Eagle” he re-upped with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), which means the champ will be with the promotion for the foreseeable future. His new deal apparently also includes a Georges St-Pierre clause.
“In addition to UFC 242, Khabib Nurmagomedov has signed a new multi-fight deal with the UFC, per his manager Ali Abdelaziz,” said Okamoto. “Terms not disclosed, however, Abdelaziz said there is a clause in the contract in the event Khabib ever fights GSP. That’s apparently already been negotiated.”
If you recall, St-Pierre was lobbying hard for a shot at Khabib, which was something “The Eagle” was on board with prior to “Rush” calling it a career earlier this year. But after politics of the fight game interfered, Georges pulled the trigger on retiring.
Nevertheless, a potential showdown against the dominant 155-pound champion could be what once again prompts the former UFC Middleweight and Welterweight champion of the world to mount another comeback to possibly further add to his already-storied mixed martial arts (MMA) career.
Of course, you can bet Poirier is going to be more than happy to play spoiler come fight night, as Khabib has his hands full against a man whose last four wins have come against the cream of the crop at 155 pounds.