Could ‘The Eagle’ be returning to the Octagon?
UFC president Dana White met with his current (or is that former?) lightweight champion last night at the UAE Warriors event being held in Abu Dhabi. White was in attendance for the filming of his Looking for a Fight series. Nurmagomedov was a guest of honour at the show, which was promoted as a memorial to his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
The eagle-eyed Caposa (aka @Grabaka_Hitman) captured the moment White and Nurmagomedov met at the event and shared it on twitter.
Pretty sure Dana just sent his security guard for Khabib pic.twitter.com/ffiM3qCpny
— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 15, 2021
Chatmatkar Sandhu followed that up with more footage, showing White and Nurmagomedov heading to an office and, dramatically, closing the door behind them.
It’s about to go down pic.twitter.com/mV8b1YLPGt
— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) January 15, 2021
This footage adds fuel to speculation that White is seeking to convince Nurmagomedov to hold off his retirement and come back to the Octagon for at least one more fight. Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in the cage back in October after he finished Justin Gaethje and retained his 155 lb title.
The win over Gaethje took Nurmagomedov’s record to a perfect 29-0. Nurmagomedov’s retirement speech was an emotional one. The fighter, obviously still mourning the loss of his father, said he would no longer compete at the behest of his mother.
Since then, signs seemed to point to Nurmagomedov making good on his word. However, White insisted that he would try and give ‘The Eagle’ an opportunity to make his record 30-0.
Whether White gets his way remains to be seen. However, should Nurmagomedov return to competition there are few challenges left for him. That is, other than a dream match-up with former welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who recently said a fight with Nurmagomedov ‘freakin’ excites’ him.