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[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED JANUARY 16, 2021, 4:10 PM]
Headline: Khabib Temporarily Lifts Retirement Pending UFC 257 Performances
We finally know the outcome of Dana White's meeting with Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s shocking MMA retirement may be over almost as abruptly as it was announced. Yesterday, Khabib and Dana White had their long-anticipated meeting to confirm whether or not he was retired. The idea to have the meeting was brought up by Dana White when he believed the retirement may have been an emotional decision.
“Well, like I said, I thought that, in his last fight, his father had passed away, he’d been away from his family during that time, he got injured while he was training, and I thought that he made an emotional decision,” Dana White said on the UFC on ABC: Holloway vs. Kattar broadcast. “There was no reason to make a hasty decision like that then. We didn’t have to. I talked to him. I told him to take his time. We would get together later on. And last night, we did.”
Dana White Reveals Khabib's Decision
White would go on to tell us the specifics of what was said in the meeting, but unfortunately, there still is no definitive answer on whether or not Khabib will fight again. But based on White’s paraphrasing of Khabib, it seems much more likely than not that we’ll see the champion defend the lightweight title again.
“And basically, the way that he feels right now is he’s accomplished everything he’s set out to accomplish. He thought that Oliveira looked really good in his last fight against Tony Ferguson. So next Saturday, we got the McGregor/Poirier fight and Chandler/Hooker on there.
“So his words to me were, ‘I’m gonna watch this fight.’ He said, ‘I would never tie up the division. I would never tie up the division, hold the belt, keep the belt away from anybody else. These guys do something spectacular, show me something spectacular, and make me want to come back and fight.’”
Charles Oliveira defeated Tony Ferguson at UFC 256 and is currently ranked #3. Michael Chandler, of course, is unranked and may only able to make it up to #6 if he defeats Dan Hooker, who currently occupies that position. As for the UFC 257 headliners, Conor McGregor is ranked #4, and Dustin Poirier is ranked #1, so those two names may be in the best position to get the next crack at Khabib in terms of rankings in case you needed any more reason to watch that epic rematch.
UFC 257 takes place next Saturday, January 23, 2021 streaming live on ESPN+.
What’s your take on the outcome of the Dana White/Khabib meeting?