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Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement has divided the MMA community in two. One half is willing to take his words by their face value and believe that he has truly retired from the octagon, while the other half is confident that he will return.
Amid the raging discussions about Khabib Nurmagomedov's future, new reports say that he has stepped into the role of a fight promoter.
Khabib Nurmagomedov set to buy and repackage GFC
According to Russian journalist Azamat Bostanov, Khabib Nurmagomedov has bought Gorilla Fighting Championship. The deal has been done at an estimate 1 million USD.
The promotion will undergo a transformation under the new ownership and will be renamed 'Eagle Fighting Championship' after Nurmagomedov's nickname, 'The Eagle'.
The format of the promotion will also be changed. Nurmagomedov plans on taking GFC, which would later become EFC, out of Russia and CIS nations and hold events in the Middle-East and the USA as well.
Azamat Bostanov says that the news will be officially announced on December 2 by Khabib Nurmagomedov at a press conference.
GFC currently operates out of Nurmagomedov's native country Dagestan. Their last event was GFC 29, which was held on October 16. GFC has two more events scheduled for this year - one on December 4 and another on December 19.
Nurmagomedov previously shared that he was done with MMA, and that he now wants to focus on his education and family farming business. But this new purchase decision means he will be involved with the sport after all.
Khabib Nurmagomedov to meet Dana White
Khabib Nurmagomedov recently posted a picture of him and UFC president Dana White on Instagram with the caption "See you soon, Dana White". While many took it as an indication of Khabib's potential return, after the announcement of buying GFC, it does seem like their meeting might go in a different direction than previously expected.
There is speculation that Nurmagomedov might enter into some sort of business partnership with Dana White in order to facilitate the growth and global exposure of his newly-acquired promotion.
Getting White to allow streaming of EFC events worldwide on UFC Fight Pass is among the frontrunners of possible business proposals.
As Aaron Bronsteter pointed out in a recent tweet, Nurmagomedov's cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, fights with GFC. He had two fights in the promotion last year - once at GFC 14 in July and another at GFC 20 in November. The undefeated fighter won on both occasions by rear-naked choke submission in the first round.
Umar Nurmagomedov's two opponents were Taras Gryckiv and Braian Gonzalez.
