Khabib Nurmagomedov’s trainer has admitted the Russian ‘misses fighting’ but the UFC legend’s return is unlikely because ‘he will not disobey his mother’s wishes’.
The former champion revealed he would step away from the sport after his second-round submission victory against Justin Gaethje in October, though UFC president Dana White has tried on numerous occasions to lure him back to the sport.
The 32-year-old reiterated that he has ‘no desire to come back’ last week, seemingly closing the book on a comeback.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s trainer has revealed the Russian ‘misses the feeling’ of fighting
Javier Mendez (pictured right) says Russian will not disobey his mother’s wishes by returning
And his trainer Javier Mendez has now revealed that while he ‘misses the feeling’ of fighting, the Dagestani fighter would never go against his mother’s wishes in returning.
Mendez told Betway Insider: ‘You know, when we went to the last fight and his cousin Abubakar was to fight, he just got all energised, and he said, ‘I miss this feeling.’
‘And it’s a feeling that he’s gonna miss for a while because of that adrenaline you get from entering that Octagon with all those people cheering you on. It’s hard to replace that in normal life because normal life is not like that.
‘What I do know is his mother’s bond and his mother’s wishes are extremely important to him, and if he did ever decide, it would have to be his mother and him talking, and his mother would have to give him her blessing.
‘Even if he wanted to fight, it’s never gonna happen. He will not disobey his mother; he will not. That’s just who he is. I can say this comfortably, that after two years out of the Octagon, there will definitely be no comeback.
Nurmagomedov (above) stepped away from the sport last October after beating Justin Gaethje
Attempts have been made to lure former champion back, but he has ‘no desire to come back’
‘I’d definitely say that when he’s past his prime, definitely not because he’s not going to compete when he’s not able to compete. But I can honestly say that if he’s still in his prime, there’s always the possibility that he and his mother could talk. I can say that.’
Nurmagomedov is one of the greatest ever MMA fighters after a stellar career in which he won all of his 29 fights.
Having triumphed over Gaethje at UFC 254, and taken his formidable record to 29-0 in the process, the 32-year-old opted to quit mixed martial arts.
UFC president White eventually conceded defeat after trying to broker another bout for the all-time great, with Nurmagomedov vowing to remain retired after his father and mentor Abdulmanap died.
UFC President Dana White (pictured left) eventually conceded defeat on his attempts
There have been lucrative offers to bring him back, however, with a $100million (£70m) package tabled for a star-studded showdown with Floyd Mayweather.
The eye-watering proposal was unveiled by Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, who also claimed the former 155-pound supremo turned it down to stay true to his promise to his mother that he wouldn’t return.
‘Two weeks ago, (or) 10 days ago, Dana White called me,’ Abdelaziz said on Hotboxin’ with Mike Tyson. ‘He said, “Georges St-Pierre, he said he’ll fight Khabib in a non-title fight at 165 pounds.”
‘In a way, we’ve been waiting for Georges. I like Georges. He’s my friend. I like Georges. We’ve been waiting for Georges for four or five years. “I’m coming. I’m not coming.”
Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib’s manager, said the fighter turned down a bout with Floyd Mayweather
‘Now, (St-Pierre) said, “Hey, Khabib is retired. I’m retired. What about coming back and fighting Khabib now?”
‘But you know, Khabib got offered $100million after he was retired to fight Floyd Mayweather,’ Abdelaziz added.
‘$100million. $100million. You can ask Floyd. You can ask everybody.
‘Khabib said, “No, I’m retired. I told my mother I’m retired. I’m going to keep my word to my mother. If my mother told me to fight again, maybe I will. But right now, she told me not to fight.”‘
And with his sights now firmly set on life after MMA, Nurmagomedov revealed earlier this month that he is weighing up making a shock move into football.
Nurmagomedov recently revealed that he is weighing up making the jump across to football
He has posted clips in the past of him showing off his skills on the pitch, and announced that he was ‘in training’ to make the shock leap across to the sport.
‘A lot of football clubs, they offer me [a contract],’ he said during a live Q&A on Facebook. ‘But I have to, a little bit, become football shape. Because football shape is a little bit different than MMA [shape].
‘When you have to fight in MMA and you have to play in football, these are two different [things]. But I don’t know [if I’ll play professionally. If some clubs offer me [a deal] and they make me an interesting [offer], I’m going to accept this.’