Khabib Nurmagomedov sent shockwaves through the UFC world when he announced his retirement in 2020 at the age of 32. With an undefeated record of 29 wins, fans expected him to increase the numbers on his resume. The announcement came after he defeated  Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Even though he departed from the Octagon, he had promised that his legacy would still go on through his team, and it looks like he has kept that promise. Team Khabib has produced one of the best fighters not only in UFC but other promotions like PFL and Bellator, and they are breaking record after record.

However, ‘The Eagle’ is training the next generation but watching their victories from the sidelines. Do you think he ever feels like coming back into the cage and fighting? ‘The American Gangster’ might be the perfect person to give a hint about this.

Chael Sonnen, reveals that Khabib could change his mind about his retirement

At UFC 254, ‘The Eagle’ Khabib Nurmagomedov vowed to not fight again, following his mother’s wish for him to not continue fighting after his father’s passing in 2020. MMA pundits have racked their brains speculating about various scenarios that would bring the undefeated former lightweight king back to the Octagon. However, Nurmagomedov has stood firm in his decision to stay retired. Speculating on the same, former UFC middleweight Chael Sonnen, on his ‘Bad Guy Inc’ podcast offered his perspective on why fighters retire.

He said, “The number one reason athletes retire, the number one, is that they don’t want to make the weight. Negotiations were going back and forth with Khabib Nurmagomedov and they just kept on upping the number, and adding commas and zeros. They were focused on the wrong number. They would have got Khabib to 30-0 or 29-1 if they made it at 170. Now I am giving you massive inside information but this never gets understood by anybody ever.”

After his retirement UFC head honcho Dana White desperately tried to convince the Dagestani to reconsider his decision but ‘The Eagle’ vacated his lightweight title. However, according to ‘The American Gangster’, White might have looked at the wrong numbers to change Nurmagomedov’s mind. Instead of numbers on the cheque, White should have probably considered the numbers on the scale with regard to Nurmagomedov competing in a different weight class, probably welterweight.

Now the 35-year-old dedicates his time to training phenoms like Islam Makhachev who is going to fight at UFC 311, and Umar Nurmagomedov for his bantamweight title showdown in the same January card. On top of that Khabib has successfully maintained his father’s plan with three champions in PFL, Bellator, and UFC. Makahchev has been the lightweight UFC champ since 2022, Usman Nurmagomedov, is the Bellator lightweight champ and Gadzhi Rabadanov completed the circle by becoming the PFL lightweight champ recently. However, does this motivate him to come back and be an active part of the front lines to maintain his ever-growing legacy?

Chael Sonnen’s theory on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s return

In a previous video, Chael Sonnen had raised the same question about the Eagle’s return. “Fighters retire for a reason, they’re done making weight,” Sonnen explained. “They say they’re done making weight. So, I remind you of that because, what if Khabib was coming back? And that’s where I get into the lesson part of it. What if Khabib was coming back? What if everything that I’m telling you is true?” Sonnen’s theory gained some traction assuming Khabib’s reported rejection of a hefty $40 million offer to return to fighting.

He also threw another theory suggesting that team Khabib might be behind the return with a potential showdown against Conor McGregor. However back in October, he gave a final verdict on his return through a conference with INews. Never the one to give his fan base any false sense of hope, he simply stated, “There is no chance, none. Not even 1%, minus [1%].”

However, he assured fans that they would not miss him because he would be creating champions behind the scenes. “If you guys need champions, I’m helping my brothers to become champions… We have Islam [Makhachev] as a champion, we have Umar [Nurmagomedov] as the next contender, we have Usman [Nurmagomedov] as champion – we have a lot of champions.”

What do you make of all of this? Do you think there’s any potential scenario where we’ll see the undefeated Dagestani, who opened the doors for his nation to dominate the sport, return to fighting? What would it take for Dana White to bring him back? Let us know in the comments down below.