Team Khabib Teases His Return Just 40 Days Away From Islam Makhachev’s Title Defense Against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302

It has almost been four years since Khabib Nurmagomedov hung up his fighting gloves. The decision to stop fighting was an emotional one for the legend of Dagestan since his father had passed away. Regardless, Nurmagomedov’s former coach Javier Mendez insinuated that ‘The Eagle’ may be missing the action that he experienced inside the Octagon.

Khabib Nurmagomedov is living a comfortable life away from the hustle and bustle of an MMA gym. A father of three, the Hall of Famer has always maintained that he is never returning to fight again and is solely focused on spending time with his family. But the recent post from Javier Mendez has raised some doubts about his retirement status.

Is Khabib Nurmagomedov coming back?

The American Kickboxing Academy head coach shared a post on Instagram with a picture of a fighter training inside the cage. Along with that, Javier Mendez also shared a message. There, he mentioned that he still feels like Khabib Nurmagomedov misses fighting despite being in a happy place after retirement. Mendez wrote, “I wonder if ‘the Eagle’ [Khabib Nurmagomedov] misses this feeling? I say he does, but once your time is up like my time when I retired.”

Indicating that a return to active competition is out of the question, the AKA head coach hinted that Khabib Nurmagomedov may be looking forward to the next challenge in his life, possibly talking up the role of a coach, which he did for a while after his retirement. “The best is just remember your memories and cherish your accomplishments because time always wins and we must move on to the next challenge in our journey of life. On to the next [Eagle] and coach journeys,” Javier Mendez added.

This post may lead people to speculate about Nurmagomedov’s return since he was recently spotted with his protégé, Islam Makhachev.

Islam Makhachev shared a couple photos with ‘The Eagle’ ahead of his UFC 302 title fight

The reigning and defending lightweight champion will defend his title for the third time at UFC 302. Dustin Poirier will have the chance to become the undisputed champion following his KO win over Frenchman Benoit Saint-Denis. Given how big of a fight this is for Makhachev, he has already started training for the fight back home with the one and only Khabib Nurmagomedov, who has been an essential part of his journey to becoming a champion.

Makhachev posted a couple of photos of him with his mentor, with one of the posts being captioned: “Road to New Jersey [UFC 302].” This left fans scratching their heads. They wanted Khabib Nurmagomedov to corner the champion during the fight against Dustin Poirier since the Hall of Famer has a win over ‘The Diamond’. However, there is no confirmation of the speculation of his return till now.

Will Nurmagomedov consider returning to support his protégé in the biggest fight of his career so far? Let us know what you think in the comment section.