SURREY, British Columbia – Not even UFC 300 could lure Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement.
Nurmagomedov hung up his gloves after submitting Justin Gaethje to retain his lightweight title in October 2020. He made a promise to his mother that he will never fight again without his father in his corner, after his father passed away July 2020.
The UFC was scrambling hard to put together big fights for its historic 300th show, which takes place April 13 in Las Vegas. While Nurmagomedov says no one personally reached out to him, they may have tried through his manager, Ali Abdelaziz.
“I know they connected with Ali, but I told Ali last maybe one year (ago), I said, ‘It doesn’t matter who calls you, but never call me about a fight,'” Nurmagomedov told MMA Junkie on Thursday following an appearance for Class A Events in Canada.
“We have a deal: Directly with me, nobody connects. But I know with Ali, he connected with some people from UFC. But I told (everyone) already once, and I told a lot of times for all these people that try to bring me back: I decided this in October 2020. It was my last fight, and I will never change this.”
UFC 300 will be headlined by a light heavyweight title fight between champion Alex Pereira, who takes on former champ Jamahal Hill.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.
