Skip to the 15:00 mark to watch White work his magic.
UFC President Dana White was fortunate enough to have Khabib Nurmagomedov on “Fight Island” this week in Abu Dhabi, where “The Eagle” cornered cousin Umar Nurmagomedov. That made a face-to-face meeting much easier (and much cheaper) than trying to arrange something in between events.
But after watching White try to entice the recently-retired Nurmagomedov on the latest episode of “Lookin’ For A Fight,” also starring retired UFC fighters Din Thomas and Matt Serra, I can understand why their closed-door meeting yielded nothing but empty promises.
Have a look:
WALLAHI I HATE THIS SHAMELESS BALDY pic.twitter.com/E4dcCBcDCe
— WG (@notoriouswool) January 22, 2021
“This fight with Poirier is trending bigger than the fight with you and Conor, on pay-per-view,” White told an unimpressed Nurmagomedov, who joined the Las Vegas fight boss for some local combat sports action. “Imagine what you and Conor would do in another fuckin’ fight. Just sayin’. I’m just sayin’!”
White was asked about the UFC 257 pay-per-view buys at the “McGregor vs. Poirier 2” press conference earlier this week and claimed it was trending “great” … but made no mention of Nurmagomedov or the record-breaking UFC 229 event that saw “The Eagle” top “Notorious” by submission.
Of course none of this matters if Dustin Poirier is able to upset the 155-pound apple cart at UFC 257 tonight (Jan. 23) inside Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi, because “Notorious” only gets another crack at the crown if he manages to scratch “The Diamond.”
Either way, a Nurmagomedov rematch may be out of the question.
MMAmania.com will deliver LIVE round-by-round, blow-by-blow coverage of the entire UFC 257 fight card tonight RIGHT HERE, starting with the early ESPN+ “Prelims” matches online, which are scheduled to begin at 6:30 p.m. ET, then the remaining undercard balance on ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, before the PPV main card start time at 10 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
To check out the latest and greatest UFC 257: “McGregor vs. Poirier 2” news and notes be sure to hit up our comprehensive event archive right here. For the entire UFC 257 fight card and PPV line up click here.