Khabib Nurmagomedov’s reason for retiring without UFC rematch against Conor McGregor revealed by long-time coach
Khabib Nurmagomedov opted to walk away from fighting for good when Conor McGregor was knocked out at UFC 257 in January 2021.
A few months earlier, Nurmagomedov suggested he was retiring from fighting after unifying the lightweight division by submitting Justin Gaehtje at UFC 254.
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However, UFC president Dana White was desperately trying to convince ‘The Eagle’ to stick around and, according to his long-time coach, he was open to the idea.
Javier Mendez claims his star pupil remained in the United States Anti-Doping Agency [USADA] drug testing pool for eight months before exiting and officially confirming his retirement.
"After Khabib retired, they were still testing him,” he told .
“Dana White didn't remove Khabib from the testing pool after he retired because he still hoped Khabib would fight again, but then Khabib had enough of being tested.
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“So, he told Dana he didn't want to test anymore and that he's not coming back. He was roughly tested for about eight months before he had enough.”
Things could’ve been much different if McGregor had picked up a win over Poirier who he previously knocked out during his rise through the featherweight ranks in 2014.
Nurmagomedov had dominated his biggest rival en route to a fourth-round submission victory at UFC 229 in 2018 but there was still an appetite from fans and the UFC for a rematch.
At UFC 257, McGregor was stopped with strikes for the first time in his career by Poirier who cemented Nurmagomedov’s retirement decision by ending talk of an imminent rematch with ‘Notorious’.
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"The UFC were trying to get him to come back, and he came close,” Mendez added.
“You saw it when we were in Abu Dhabi. He said, 'If someone shows me something spectacular then maybe I'll come back.' It was Conor v Poirier that night, but it did not get Khabib excited.
“He said if something excited me on that card then maybe I'll consider it. But it never happened. The UFC was pushing him, but nothing excited him, so it was a no-go.”
Nurmagomedov hasn’t fought in almost three years, and it seems highly unlikely that the 29-0 Russian will ever make a comeback after walking away from coaching to spend more time with his family.
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Meanwhile, McGregor suffered another defeat when he squared off against Poirier in a trilogy fight at UFC 264 in July 2021.
The 34-year-old broke his leg in round one and hasn't fought since.
Although he’s now fully fit and booked to return against Michael Chandler, it appears unlikely he will compete in 2023 after missing an important drug test deadline.
McGregor recently called for 'patience' from fight fans, but many of them are growing increasingly anxious about the possibility MMA’s biggest star will never fight again.
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