Khabib Nurmagomedov Confirms He Never Considered Comeback After UFC 254

While Dana White left the door open for a Khabib Nurmagomedov comeback for months, the former UFC lightweight champion never truly considered it to be an option.

Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, but White continued to insist that he could lure the Dagestani grappler back into the Octagon. After their most recent meeting, however, White and the UFC made it official: Nurmagomedov was not coming back.

For most observers, the writing had been on the wall for some time. Nurmagomedov admitted that the recent announcement only confirmed what he had known for months.

“Dana called this official, but I retired like four, six months ago,” Nurmagomedov said on ESPN Saturday night. “It’s very funny: Dana told me when he posted that someone commented saying, ‘Hey, he retired not today, he retired about five months ago,’ and I was like it’s funny. We had some conversations with Dana a couple of times and like two days ago we meet with him to talk like two real men. We had a very good conversation with them, good dinner, and I really appreciated him not only for me, but all the sport.”

When Nurmagomedov made his announcement, he cited a promise he made to his mother following the death of his father and coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, last year. While there are lucrative possibilities that exist — including a rematch with Conor McGregor — if he continues fighting, Nurmagomedov isn’t concerned with padding his bank account.

“It’s very hard when you have power, when you’re the best in the world, when you’re famous, have money and say to everything like this, ‘No,'” Nurmagomedov said. “It’s very hard. People maybe will never understand me, but I really hope they’re going to support my decision because everyone has their views.

“My view and my relationship with my mother, I feel like I have to stop because I feel like in every fight, every training camp, this takes some age away from my mother. And it’s like what do I have to do? I came to this sport to show who I am and became the best, I’m world champion, and pound-for-pound No. 1. I defended my title three times. I defended my title in biggest fight of UFC history. What else? Only money-fights, but I don’t need money.”

As far as the future, Nurmagomedov will focus on family and the fighting careers of his teammates.

“I have some business projects, I’m going to enjoy with my wife, I have kids, and I have my brothers – they’re still fighting in the UFC, so I’m going to support them,” he said.