Khabib not interested in taking retirement U-turn to fight Conor McGregor
Russian martial arts star Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in October and he is not planning on changing his plans to face Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier.
Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has no desire to come out of retirement to fight Conor McGregor or Dustin Poirier in the UFC, having already "choked both". The 32-year-old stunningly announced his retirement from the octagon after beating Justin Gaethje to defend the lightweight championship at UFC 254 in October as he improved to 29-0.
Khabib rules out rematch
UFC president Dana White has previously felt Khabib would perform a retirement U-turn and aim to take his flawless fighting record to 30-0. But the Russian played down a possible rematch with McGregor or Poirier, who will go head-to-head in Abu Dhabi on 23 January. After forcing McGregor into submission in their UFC 229 blockbuster in October 2018, Khabib also made Poirier tap out with a rear-naked choke in September last year.
"What for? I choked both," he said when asked about facing the winner of the McGregor-Poirier showdown. "Why I should do this? There is no sports interest there. I choked both of them, both were champions, both surrendered to me. As our proverb says: A horse doesn't run until the donkey wins. Donkeys don't even take part in competitions where horses run. I have no interest in fighting against these opponents. Imagine UFC offered you $100million. This is already a problem. But there is no sports interest there."