MOSCOW, January 16— , Andrey Vasilchin. No matter how hard former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) champion Khabib Nurmagomedov tries to protect himself from constant rumors about his return to the octagon, they still pursue the UFC Hall of Famer, just as the Eagle himself pursued his opponents in the octagon.
The other day, the undefeated Russian was “framed” by… the famous Swedish football player Zlatan Ibrahimovic! Famous athletes met at the match of the Italian Milan, after which the ex-Rossoneri player published a joint photo with Khabib, signing it “UFC 300”.
The question «What could this mean?» no one had it. The anniversary tournament of the world's main MMA promotion promises to become the main show in 2024. The management is actively filling the card with top fights — fans will be able to appreciate what Dana White gets on April 13 in Las Vegas and on television.
Where did the rumors about the return come from? The thing is, UFC 300 doesn't currently have a main event. And it, obviously, should be unusual, resonating both before and after the show.
The former contender for the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight championship titles, now expert Chael Sonnen, thought the same thing, who suggested that for the sake of such an event, Nurmagomedov resumed training and is now preparing for a fight with welterweight champion Leon Edwards. Allegedly, the Russian will no longer lose weight in his own lightweight division, and the British belt is an excellent incentive for a comeback.
“Stop the clickbait!” Nurmagomedov’s coach Javier Mendez had to refute the words of the American trash talker. Here's what the specialist said in his video message:
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“I am in Dubai and recording this video to stop the rumors about Khabib’s return and that we are training together. We never talked about his return — he remains unchanged in his decision to devote more time to his family. Khabib is still not seconding anyone and is not going to fight.He flew here a couple of days ago, and we are really training, but we are doing cardio — there is no kickboxing or MMA. Stop this clickbait!'.
And then Khabib himself took the floor, clarifying the situation on social networks:
«»UFC 300 will be without me, just like UFC 400.»
Having completed his career in October 2020, with a perfect record of 29-0, the Russian remains true to his word to his mother not to fight without his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Now Orel’s work is being continued by the best UFC fighter regardless of weight categories (P4P), close friend Islam Makhachev — why should Khabib come back? Nonsense. We are also not talking about motivation and financial gain… Perhaps it will take several more years before the MMA community finally accepts this.