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Conor McGregor has wished Khabib Nurmagomedov a happy retirement after Dana White confirmed that “The Eagle” wouldn’t be returning to the UFC.
For months now we’ve heard Dana teasing the idea that Khabib could return to the octagon at some point in the future, even though he announced his retirement after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. From the allure of going 30-0 to the list of big opponents he could go up against, there were plenty of reasons to believe he could change his mind.
McGregor's last stand
Alas, we now know that’s not going to happen, with White confirming Michael Chandler and Charles Oliveira will compete for the vacant UFC lightweight title at UFC 262.
One man who has been aligned with Khabib throughout the last few years is Conor McGregor - so it’s no surprise to see that he wanted to have his say on the Russian’s decision to draw the curtains on his career.
“Happy retirement kid, smell ya later. Never forget who came in the game and made ye. Straight from my big Irish balls. Remember folks, if you hate cutting weight so much, all you have to do is move up a division. God bless.”
The two men battled it out over the 155-pound crown back at UFC 229 with Khabib coming out on top courtesy of a decisive submission victory.
Ever since then, fans have wondered whether a rematch could happen, but after McGregor was beaten by Dustin Poirier in their rematch at the start of 2021, it became clear that a rematch would not transpire.
The next phase of Conor’s career is up in the air, but for Khabib, it’s crystal clear that 29-0 is where he wants to remain.
The idea of what would happen in a rematch has always been a mystery for mixed martial arts fans. A majority believed McGregor wasn’t as focused as he needed to be before UFC 229. Alas, whatever you think of either man, there’s no way of denying the unbelievable impact their rivalry had on the UFC.
At the very least, those 2.4 million PPV buys will be hard to beat.
