Dana White Gives an Update on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Octagon Return

With the UFC Lightweight division having an interim champ again, the next big question is when will the champ be available to fight. Dana White earlier hinted that Khabib Numagomedov could return as early as July. However, the UFC President has now had a chat with the Dagestani champ. Subsequently, we now have a definitive time of return for “The Eagle”.

The UFC had initially booked Khabib vs Tony for UFC 249. While Khabib flew back to Russia amidst the uncertainty, Ferguson lost the fight to Justin Gaethje. Consequently, the next fight to make is Justin Gaethje vs Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Khabib is currently in Russia. Also, being a Muslim, he won’t fight during the ongoing month of Ramadan. Just like last year, Nurmagomedov is planning a return around September this year as well.

“I talked to Khabib today, Khabib told me he’d be ready in September,” Dana White said while he appeared on ‘Tim & Sid’. “Earlier today, I had said [he could fight] this summer, because we were texting back and forth last night and it sounded to me like he was ready to go, but he’s said September.”

A tweet by Conor McGregor also made the people believe that Khabib may return earlier than expected. However, the UFC President’s words have made the situation a bit more clear. He is also pretty sure that normalcy will not be restored by that time. Hence, there is a high probability of the lightweight title fight taking place on Fight Island.

Dana White says Conor McGregor will likely fight this summer

Ever since UFC 249 happened, Conor has been desperately trying to inject himself into the 155-pounds title picture. He went on a Twitter tirade targeting all the big names at Lightweight. White has already confirmed that Conor is looking to fight soon. He has now hinted that the former two-division champ can meet the winner of Gaethje vs Nurmagomedov.

“Obviously Gaethje and Khabib is going to happen, looks like that’s going to happen in September,” Dana said. “And we’ll figure out what’s next for Conor. Conor will probably fight this summer, then you have [Gaethje-Khabib] fight in September, and then that will line up a fight up for the winner.”

Doing a McGregor fight without an audience would hurt the UFC a lot. Conor is capable of bringing in a large audience and that means a big gate. Moreover, the UFC can also leverage the media attention that he gets by doing several media events. However, White has probably accepted that the status quo will remain as it is for the better part of the year left.