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Aljamain Sterling has detailed a scenario he believes could force Khabib Nurmagomedov to come out of retirement and return to the octagon.
During the UFC 269 recap on his very own FunkMasterMMA YouTube channel, Sterling claimed that for the scenario to play out, Khabib's American Kickboxing Academy teammate and friend Islam Makhachev must defeat Beneil Dariush next year.
Charles Oliveira must then successfully defend his UFC lightweight championship against Justin Gaethje, a clash expected to go down in the first half of 2022. When Oliveira then takes on Makhachev next, 'Do Bronx' would then have to come out on top.
The reigning UFC bantamweight champion believes that might entice 'The Eagle' to come out of retirement.
"I would be very, very interested to see if maybe in a perfect world, Islam beats Dariush and gets the title shot. Let me say hypothetically actually, Oliveira takes out Justin Gaethje as well. Islam Makhachev is now fighting Oliveira and Oliveira beats Islam. Would that be something that could entice Khabib to come back and make a return to try to figure out the puzzle of Charles Oliveira? That could be a huge fight for the division. And I think also to bring Khabib back to possibly challenge himself to get that 30-0 record."
Watch Aljamain Sterling speak about UFC 269, Khabib Nurmagomedov and more in the video below:
Makhachev is scheduled to face Dariush in the main event of a UFC Fight Night on February 26. Meanwhile, Oliveira is expected to make his second title defense against Gaethje after getting past Dustin Poirier at UFC 269 this past weekend.
Aljamain Sterling is set to defend his bantamweight belt against Petr Yan in the first half of 2022
Aljamain Sterling became the first UFC champion to be crowned due to a disqualification victory. Petr Yan executed an illegal knee on a downed Sterling, leading to him dropping the belt at UFC 259 in March this year.
The pair's rematch was set for UFC 267 in Abu Dhabi on October 30. However, 'Funk Master' pulled out of the bout due to lingering issues from his neck surgery.
'No Mercy' instead defeated Cory Sandhagen to claim the interim title in Abu Dhabi. Sterling and Yan will now square off in a unification bout sometime in the first half of 2022.
