Khabib Nurmagomedov admitted that he was a little sad when his champion belt was confirmed to be removed by the UFC as his determination to retire.
Khabib admits that Dana White has convinced him several times into withdrawing the retirement decision he made after winning against Justin Gaethje.
“I want to say that it’s really hard to say no to Dana White. I’ll be honest because this guy is sometimes cute, and sometimes he’s not. But talking to him is always like the talk of two real men.”
“In the last meeting, he came and said ‘Hey, what are we going to do?’ Then I said, ‘Nothing has changed.’ In my view, the light class should continue the journey. My decision has not changed and I hope he understands me, that is when someone doesn’t want to fight anymore, he has to respect it, “said Khabib as quoted Bloody Elbow.
Although he was unanimous about the decision to retire, Khabib admitted that he experienced feelings of sadness when the UFC boss called someone and confirmed the lightweight title was vacant.
“He called and said, ‘Hey, this fight is official.’ He was talking about the Charles Oliveira vs Michael Chandler duel. And he was still waiting for my answer [before declaring the match official].”
“After the meeting, I felt a little sad because officially, they made the lightweight title vacant. Even though I have retired, in my heart, I still love competition,” said Khabib.
Khabib decided to retire after winning the submission against Gaethje in October 2021. Khabib declared his retirement because he had promised his mother that the match against Gaethje was the last match he had at the UFC.
Khabib also admitted that it was difficult for him to continue his career at UFC without the presence of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died a few months earlier.
Khabib retired undefeated and holds a 29-0 record.
