Undefeated UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov left the door open for the 30th fight inside the Octagon.
Promotion president Dana White said that if next week’s two lightweight fights – Conor McGregor vs. Dustin Poirier and Dan Hooker vs. Michael Chandler – are spectacular, Nurmagomedov would consider fighting one of the winners again.
“If these guys could do anything special, Khabib would fight them,” White said Saturday at UFC Fight Night: The Holloway Vs. Kattar from Abu Dhabi
Nurmagomedov has a chance to get a perfect 30-0 with a win in a possible comeback fight.
Nurmagomedov, one of the world’s foremost Muslim athletes, and White personally gathered behind the scenes during an UMA event of the UAE Warriors Friday night in Abu Dhabi that was co-promoted by Nurmagomedov’s new organization Eagle FC .
In October, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in a surprising way after a victory for the presentation of the second round against Justin Gaethje in UFC 254. Beginning in this fight, Nurmagomedov was mourning the death of his father the last summer due to complications of COVID-19. Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, was also his head coach and his closest confidant.
Nurmagomedov (29-0) is ESPN’s highest pound-for-pound fighter in the world. The native of Dagestan, an autonomous republic of Russia, has won all 13 UFC fights, a record of consecutive light victories in the UFC. Nurmagomedov, 32, owns the longest lightweight title in UFC history and is tied with the UFC’s lightest title defenses (3). He has won at the stature of former champions Gaethje, McGregor, Poirier and Raphael two Angels.