In 2017, Georges St-Pierre vacated his middleweight championship just 33 days after claiming it in New York. This had UFC president Dana White worried. Seven years later, a similar incident is being speculated upon. According to a recent audio clip about ‘The Eagle’ training making the rounds, fans speculate that Khabib Nurmagomedov will challenge for the title against Leon Edwards and vacate to provide an opportunity for Islam Makhachev to claim it.

With this rumor taking center stage, UFC legend Chael Sonnen discussed the speculated return of Khabib Nurmagomedov. Sonnen failed to see any reason for his return, and said, “Why would Khabib come back? Like the money? Not a chance. The attention? No way. The legacy? Secured. Perfect, perfect, and unblemished. And why would he come back?” 

However, ‘The Bad Guy’ played out a possible scenario, and said, “Unless the disciple couldn’t get the fight because he’s held to his division of 155 pounds and Khabib said, ‘I’m gonna come in I’m gonna take the belt from Leon and then I’m going to vacate it.’” This could leave an opening for Islam Makhachev to secure the title.

Sonnen added how that would cause a hindrance to the promotion and a problem to Dana White. The 46-year-old stated, “Now you have parody. Now you don’t just have a number one contender, You have two number one contenders.… Dana White, he doesn’t like that. But if Khabib came in, he did it at 170. See, that’s the big problem too. Is Dana White does not do things on a one off.”

Sonnen made it clear that the head honcho of the UFC would not really appreciate Nurmagomedov winning the belt and then vacating it soon after, just like Georges St. Pierre won the middleweight belt against Michael Bisping and immediately handed it right back.

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But exactly what did Javier Mendez say for Nurmagomedov’s return to even get speculated in the first place?

Javier Mendez reveals The Eagle’s plans

In a post by Parry Punch on ‘X’, an audio clip of a voice that sounded like Javier Mendez, it is said that Khabib Nurmagomedov is back training with him for the first time since he retired back in 2020. We can hear him say, “He’s always training. Always training. But he’s never trained with me. You understand? He’s been training, but he’s never trained with me.” 

However, the AKA coach went further to make a claim that intrigued every MMA fan and pro alike when he said, “Only when he fights he trains with me. That I can tell you. Whether he fights or not, I don’t know. But he’s training with me so you can take that for what it’s worth.”

A few hours after this audio went viral, we had the man himself, Javier Mendez, gave a statement about the Dagestani’s comeback. He said, “Just letting you guys know, stop all this nonsense regarding Khabib coming back and me and him training. There’s been no such thing happening. We’re not discussing training, we never have. Khabib is still devoted to what he said… He’s not going to ever fight… No training, no fighting, nothing…”

Nurmagomedov stepped away from the sport having announced his retirement following his victory over Justin Gaethje in Oct. 2020 has remained adamant that he is retired for good. He had even mentioned in an interview with fellow UFC icon Daniel Cormier that he had turned down offers of up to $40 million from Dana White to return to the Octagon for one more fight. The longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion in history had expressed, “If I decide [on retirement], I decide, it’s finished. I leave this alone. I’m happy and I never regret my decision, never.” Remember, he retired with an undefeated professional record of 29-0.

UFC’s former lightweight roost-ruler has stayed busy outside of the cage through coaching, business ventures, and spending time with his family.

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