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Despite his retirement in 2021, Khabib Nurmagomedov is still active inside the UFC. Although he isn’t fighting anymore, ‘The Eagle’ trains some top fighters in the promotion. In fact, UFC lightweight star Islam Makhachev is also his protege and he is backing Makhachev for a title shot.

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A recent saga saw Charles Oliveira miss weight before his title defense against Justin Gaethje. As a result, despite winning the fight, he got stripped from the UFC lightweight title. Hence, the UFC made him the number one contender and will schedule a title fight including him. However, his opponent is yet to be finalized.

Khabib Nurmagomedov, on the other hand, is convinced that no one but Islam Makhachev deserves a go at the shining UFC lightweight belt. He recently shared a meme video involving many top lightweights on his Instagram story.

 

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The video, originally in Russian, sees five men standing on the street. Each man has a UFC fighter’s face on them. It features Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev, Michael Chandler, Conor McGregor, and Beneil Dariush, respectively.

In the video, a man with Charles Oliveira’s face comes and starts talking to the group. Oliveira makes his entry on the iconic Eye of the Tiger song by Survivor. After shaking everybody’s hands, he grabs McGregor and tried to hit him. That’s when Makhachev jumps in and saves McGregor from ‘Do Bronx’.

It is clear what ‘The Eagle’ is trying to imply here. After all, he has made it quite obvious by constantly backing Makhachev to face Oliveira for the 155lbs belt. Conor McGregor is preparing himself for a return to the Octagon later this year and he might eye for a title fight against Oliveira.

Read More: Five insane achievements of Khabib Nurmagomedov in the UFC

However, these are merely speculations, and only Dana White and the UFC know what is going to happen in the lightweight division.

Khabib Nurmagomedov names UFC fighter who makes him want a return

‘The Eagle’ became a UFC legend with his impressive unbeaten run. In fact, he remained unbeaten in his whole MMA career (29-0). After his retirement in 2021, many UFC fans miss his presence in the Octagon.

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While Nurmagomedov has made it clear that he is at no point of return, he recently revealed a fighter who makes him want a return to fighting. 

In a recent interview, Nurmagomedov said, “There’s no fighter that motivates me to return. But when I hear Georges St-Pierre’s name I want to go for a 10km run. So, you can throw any name Charles Oliveira too doesn’t motivate me.”

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He later added, “But I will be honest with you. This ship has sailed. He’s 40. Let’s leave GSP alone. We all love GSP, he’s the legend, the right person to represent MMA. Let’s leave our names aside.”

WATCH THIS STORY: Top five UFC records held by Khabib Nurmagomedov

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The whole MMA world will be stunned if ‘The Eagle’ ever decides to make a comeback. However, the possibilities of it look shy.

How did you like the video shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov? Let us know in the comments.