Khabib Nurmagomedov Completely Rules Out UFC Return

Since announcing his retirement from the sport of MMA in 2020 at just the age of 32, many fans have held hope that Khabib Nurmagomedov will make a return to the UFC Octagon one day. The dominant Russian who ran through everyone he faced in MMA has been rumoured to be involved in some tax issues over the last few months and many people believed that if the rumours were true, it could potentially motivate Khabib to pursue a UFC return if he needed a quick cash injection.

Despite fans getting their hopes up in recent months, ‘The Eagle’ has now completely ruled out any chance of him ever returning to the UFC in a recent interview with Official iNews.

Khabib Nurmagomedov Will Not Be Returning to the UFC

The Russian ruled out any chance of a UFC return in a recent interview

For any fans who were holding out any hope for Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Octagon return, this news will disappoint you. In a new interview with Official iNews, the Russian former UFC lightweight champion ruled out any chance of ever returning to the UFC. When quizzed by the interviewer about the potential of returning to MMA, Nurmagomedov gave a very definitive reply, saying the following:

Khabib has always been unselfish throughout his career and he is showing that unselfishness once again as he has revealed that his fighting career is no longer a priority for him. His main priority is helping his teammates become champions. There is a litany of Russian talent in the UFC right now who have close links to Nurmagomedov, his close childhood friend, Islam Makhachev, is now carrying on the Russian dominance in the lightweight division as champion, and there is also his cousin, Umar, who is next in line for a shot at bantamweight gold against Merab Dvalishvili sometime in the near future. Also, another one of his cousins, Usman, holds lightweight gold in Bellator.

Why Did Khabib Nurmagomedov Retire?

Khabib retired while still undefeated, coming off one of the best performances of his career

The reason why so many fans have held out hope for a Khabib Nurmagomedov UFC return is because of the fact when he retired, he was arguably in his prime and still dominating everyone who was put in front of him. Khabib’s retirement was not down to him slowing down or injury issues which are common reasons for fighters retiring, instead, it was the unfortunate death of his father which pushed him to call it quits on his MMA career.

Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap, was a huge part of his career and is arguably the sole reason behind the current Dagestani dominance we are seeing in the UFC today. Abdulmanap set up training camps in the mountains of Dagestan and trained Khabib, Islam Makhachev and other members of the Nurmagomedov family from an early age, taking them through brutal drills and even having them wrestle with bears.