Dana White “Confident” He “Can Talk” Khabib Nurmagomedov Into Fighting
UFC President Dana White believes Khabib Nurmagomedov will fight again.
While sitting down with Caroline Pearce of BT Sport, White discussed the possibility of UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov stepping back in the cage again.
“I think his dad wanting him to get to 30-0 is in the back of his mind, and he wants to achieve that because he knew his father wanted it,” White said (h/t MMA Junkie). “But we’ll see. Him and I are getting together next month and talk. He might not want to fight, I don’t know the answer to that. But I’m a little confident that I can talk him into it.”
When asked about the possibility of creating an interim title for next month’s fight between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier at UFC 257, White firmly rejected the idea.
“No interim title, I’ll know next month,” White said. “I’ll know when Conor and Poirier are fighting, when he’s (Nurmagomedov) going to fight again, so it all times out perfectly.”
Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after defeating Justin Gaethje in the main event of UFC 254. In most circumstances, the UFC would not hesitate to declare an interim title or strip a champion unwilling to defend their title. White appears to have a different tone, however, when it comes to “The Eagle”.
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