Khabib Nurmagomedov may never return to action, especially due to the promise he made to his mother following his father’s untimely passing. But what if he does return? We can say that there are good fights available for him on the lightweight roster, but one of his teammates, Gadzhi Rabadanov, claims that ‘The Eagle’ isn’t the same as he was when he retired. In fact, Nurmagomedov will give a run for Dricus du Plessis’s money.

We have seen fighters shift from one division to another – to a weight class higher or a weight class lower. However, PFL champion Gadzhi Rabadanov claims his mentor-cum-coach-cum-teammate, Khabib Nurmagomedov could compete at middleweight, and guess what he said later? In a bold claim, Rabadanov asserted that the 29-0 UFC Hall of Famer can beat the current 185lbs kingpin without any problems at all.

“He’s not lightweight anymore. I think maybe middleweight is good, 100% [he could be Dricus du Plessis]. Khabib is different level,” Nurmagomedov’s teammate stated as reported by ‘MMA on Point’. Well, for the record, ‘The Eagle’ has competed at 155lbs for the majority of his entire MMA career with a single fight at 170lbs before coming to the UFC. So, a move to middleweight is surely an outrageous claim.

For the unversed,  Nurmagomedov won an MMA tournament, Tsumada FC 3, as a welterweight, so it could be hard to picture him any bigger than that. Also, there was a rumor about him returning to fight once more against welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre, which never came to fruition. However, his protege, Islam Makhachev, recently claimed that his mentor has gotten significantly heavier since giving up his combat duties following his retirement in 2020.

Islam Makhachev claims Khabib Nurmagomedov is almost a light-heavyweight

Earlier this year, Islam Makhachev was asked about his mentor, and if he missed fighting. It’s been almost three years since Khabib retired, so fans were eager to know the state of a possible return. While claiming that ‘The Eagle’ did miss fighting inside the Octagon, Makhachev also revealed that he isn’t the same size he used to be. In fact, Nurmagomedov is currently looming around the 200-pound mark, just a few pounds short of the light heavyweight mark.

“In the camp, in the mountain, I checked. 92.5 kgs [203.9 pounds]. He lose weight in the mountains because he’s training with everybody, with us. But when he travels a lot, I think [his weight goes up to] 95, 96 [kgs],” Makhachev revealed on the ‘Pound 4 Pound’ podcast. This statement does stand as evidence of Gadzhi Rabadanov’s claims about Nurmagomedov being heavier than during his heyday in the UFC.

Although it sounds exciting that Khabib Nurmagomedov could beat Dricus du Plessis, it’s highly unlikely that this fight will ever come to fruition. With every year, hopes of ‘The Eagle’ returning to the Octagon are slowly diminishing. But what do you think? Would you like to see the 29-0 legend as a middleweight? Drop your comments below.