"There's nothing like beating somebody up in front of 15,000 people!" - Bas Rutten on why Khabib Nurmagomedov will make UFC return
UFC hall of famer Bas Rutten believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov will return to the UFC. The 55-year-old veteran is of the opinion that the Dagestani fighter will be tempted to make a comeback when some competitor in the lightweight division goes on a tear.
Rutten, who won the UFC lightheavyweight championship by defeating the late Kevin Randleman in 1999, was considered as one of the best MMA fighters of his era.
In a recent interview with RT Sport MMA, Bas Rutten explained why he thinks Nurmagomedov will ultimately return to the octagon.
"There is nothing like beating somebody up in front of 15,000 people. Knocking somebody out, people going nuts, or get them in a crazy submission, people going nuts; it's a feeling that you cannot replace with anything else," said Rutten.
Bas Rutten further added that although Nurmagomedov will not turn to alcohol or drugs to replace that feeling, the UFC lightweight champion won't be able to resist the idea of making a comeback.
"You see many of these fighters, they turn to alcohol or drugs because they try to replace that feeling because it's suddenly away from their lives. Khabib is not doing that because he is a very sturdy Muslim, so he makes sure that he doesn't do all these things. But still, he is going to need to feel a replacement for that."
Bas Rutten thinks a dominant lightweight will lure Khabib Nurmagomedov to come out of retirement
Bas Rutten then explained that a new competitor in the UFC lightweight division will eventually draw comparisons to Khabib Nurmagomedov, which will hype the potential fight between him and 'The Eagle', and that may force him to come out of retirement.
"When this new guy comes at 155, who starts destroying everybody, and then the talks start coming, 'hey what Khabib would have done against the guy', and once that enters Khabib's ear, he might think, 'maybe I should get this guy' because right now, he is the best guy ever," said Rutten.
Nurmagomedov retired immediately after beating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The 32-year-old recently met Dana White to discuss his future in the promotion. According to White, Nurmagomedov may comeback if his fellow lightweight competitors do something "spectacular" in their fights.
After two highly-publicized lightweight clashes at UFC 257, the Russian fighter wasn't too impressed with his rivals in the 155-pound division, as per Dana White, suggesting that we may not see Nurmagomedov fighting in the UFC.