UFC Lightweight Dustin Poirier on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement: ‘The division has to move on’
No. 3 ranked UFC Lightweight Dustin Poirier thinks that the 155-pound division has got to move on from Khabib Nurmagomedov and book fights aiming at the greater good.
It is widely known how short-lived UFC retirements can often be. Going with that trend, it could very well be that Khabib Nurmagomedov comes back from his retirement and defends his title once again.
However, in case he does not, UFC and the Lightweight division should move forward, said Poirier in an interview with MMA Junkie.
Dustin Poirier thinks Khabib Nurmagomedov is serious about retirement
Different people are saying different things about Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement.
UFC President Dana White is saying he is confident that 'The Eagle' will return for the 30-0 fight. His manager Ali Abdelaziz has called out news reporting on Khabib Nurmagomedov's staying retired as 'fake'.
But Khabib Nurmagomedov himself has stood firm on his decision every time he was asked about it since his UFC 254 fight with Justin Gaethje.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has said that he has accomplished all that he wanted to do in UFC and does not want to fight anymore without his father, who passed away earlier this year. He wants to finish his education and focus on farming, he said in a recent meeting in Dagestan.
Dustin Poirier said that we should take Khabib's words at face value.
Dana White has said that the decision was an emotional call, but Dustin Poirier thinks we should believe him if he is saying the same thing even after a month.
"The only thing that makes me think that the guy is serious is because - first of all, he doesn't seem like a bulls***ter, and if he said he's done right after the fight, and his father had just passed away - it's an emotional moment, you just got another title defense, you get to go back home to your family, you might say those things right after. But a month later, you're still saying this, singing the same tune. Maybe the guy's mind is somewhere else, maybe he is moving on. Maybe he, like he said, has accomplished everything he set out to do. I don't know, but if he is done, somebody has to fight for that belt."
Who will fight for the Lightweight belt next?
Many wondered whether the January 23 fight between Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor at UFC 257, which is now official, would be a title fight for the belt, now that the reigning Champion has retired. But Dana White rejected any such possibility, reasserting that Khabib Nurmagomedov still held the title and it is not vacated.
Dustin Poirier emphasized repeatedly on the fact that UFC should turn their attention towards booking fights for the title. He said that if his fight with Conor McGregor is not booked as a Championship bout, he would most certainly fight for the title in his next outing - considering he beats the Irishman.
"If the title is not on the line in this fight with Conor, it's gonna be the next fight. After I beat Conor my next fight will be for the belt, if this isn't it."
Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz has talked about Khabib's possible return, but has also said that if he does, it would be for that one fight that he always wanted but never got - a bout with Georges St-Pierre.
As exciting as that fight would be, it would not do anything for the Lightweight title scene for obvious reasons.