Morning Report: Khabib Nurmagomedov’s manager says ex-champ declined Georges St-Pierre, $100M fight offer from Floyd Mayweather
If you were holding out some vain hope that Khabib Nurmagomedov wasn’t really retired, you can probably put those notions to bed.
On Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson, Khabib’s manager Ali Abdelaziz revealed that the former UFC lightweight champion continues to have fight offers put in front of him but has remained unwavering in his retirement, even in the face of some of the most tantalizing offers imaginable.
“Two weeks ago, (or) 10 days ago, Dana White called me,” Abdelaziz said. “He said, ‘Georges St-Pierre, he said he’ll fight Khabib in a non-title fight at 165 pounds.’ In a way, we’ve been waiting for Georges. I like Georges. He’s my friend. I like Georges. … We’ve been waiting for Georges for four or five years. ‘I’m coming. I’m not coming.’ … Now, (St-Pierre) said, ‘Hey, Khabib is retired. I’m retired. What about coming back and fighting Khabib now?”
Nurmagomedov had long harbored the desire to face off with St-Pierre, a fighter he and his father consider to be among the best ever and after the passing of his father last year, speculation was high that Khabib would look to end his career with a fight against GSP. Then the lightweight champion surprised everyone by announcing his retirement following his title defense over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Since then, Dana White and the UFC struggled mightily to attempt to coax Khabib back for one more fight, dangling the possibility of St-Pierre or, White’s preference, a lucrative rematch with Conor McGregor. However, arguably the most enticing fight came from outside of the UFC, at least from a pure dollars and cents standpoint.
“But you know, Khabib got offered $100 million after he was retired to fight Floyd Mayweather,” Abdelaziz said. “$100 million. $100 million. You can ask Floyd. You can ask everybody. Khabib said, ‘No, I’m retired. I told my mother I’m retired. I’m going to keep my word to my mother. If my mother told me to fight again, maybe I will. But right now, she told me not to fight.’”
The UFC officially accepted Nurmagomedov’s retirement earlier this year and just this month crowned a new lightweight champion, Charles Oliveira. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov has seemed content in his retirement, building several businesses and taking a more direct hand in coaching and developing fighters.
His final record in MMA is a sterling 29-0.
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VIDEO STEW
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Kyle Crutchmer (5-1) vs. Levan Chokheli (9-0); Bellator 260, June 11.
Puna Soriano (8-0) vs. Brendan Allen (16-4); UFC Fight Night, July 24.
Doo Ho Choi (14-4) vs. Danny Chavez (11-4); UFC Fight Night, July 31.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Thanks for reading and see y’all tomorrow.
EXIT POLL
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