Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints at Potential July UFC Return

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Khabib Nurmagomedov might be ready to return to UFC competition sooner than expected.

The reigning lightweight champion responded to a post on the ESPN MMA Instagram account on Wednesday with a timeline that is much earlier than the September or October dates that the fighter himself had mentioned.

“I can fight anytime, Ramadan finishes [May 23],” Nurmagomedov wrote. “July I’m gonna be ready. Stop talking about me, this is coronatime, when Khabibtime comes I smash all of them.”  

Nurmagomedov has received some criticism for his decision to return to Russia before UFC 249’s originally scheduled date of April 18. When the event was moved to May 9, “The Eagle” was unable to leave his home country due to travel restrictions imposed by the coronavirus pandemic.  

Tony Ferguson was the most recent fighter to blast the champion, as he called his interim title bout with Justin Gaethje at UFC 249 a fight for “the real belt.”  

“F—k Khabib. I’m going to be real,” Ferguson said. “I want to say f—k Khabib. I’m defending my belt for the third time. This is for the real belt. This is not for an interim title. This is for the real championship s—t. It’s champ s—t only, buddy.

“That dude’s a b—h. I’m going to be real. Him and McNuggets. They both need to f—ing retire. The only two real men out there are going to be me and  Justin Gaethje. American motherf—ers.”

Undefeated in 28 professional appearances, Nurmagomedov hasn’t competed since submitting Dustin Poirier in the UFC 242 main event last September. The Ferguson-Gaethje winner is expected to face Nurmagomedov in a lightweight title unification bout down the road.