Video: Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov finally meet face-to-face in Abu Dhabi

Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov finally met face-to-face Friday.

The highly-anticipated meeting between the UFC president and the UFC lightweight champion took place at UAE Warriors 15, an event held in Abu Dhabi, not far from the UFC’s “Fight Island” event bubble.

White was in attendance for the filming of an episode of “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight,” while Nurmagomedov is a frequent attendant at UAE Warriors events.

The event’s broadcast showed White’s bodyguard retrieve Nurmagomedov, who was a special guest attendee, from the stands to escort him backstage.

Pretty sure Dana just sent his security guard for Khabib pic.twitter.com/ffiM3qCpny

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 15, 2021

From there, a video posted by White on social media shows the two walking into a room and shutting the door. An Instagram story video posted by Nurmagomedov shows his boss sitting in a chair directly in front of him.

Oh to be a fly on the wall for this meeting between Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov (via @TeamKhabib) pic.twitter.com/kY4p9hPgHr

— Chamatkar Sandhu (@SandhuMMA) January 15, 2021

White and Nurmagomedov were later spotted sitting together cageside. Joining them were former UFC welterweight champion Matt Serra and UFC alumnus Din Thomas, who co-star in “Dana White: Lookin’ for a Fight.”

#EFC32 pic.twitter.com/orl8GuUQgF

— caposa (@Grabaka_Hitman) January 15, 2021

Since Nurmagomedov announced his retirement at UFC 254 in October, White has been adamant he thinks the undefeated Russian champion will fight again. Upon the UFC’s return to “Fight Island” for its third stint, White made it a point to seek out a quick meeting with Nurmagomedov in an effort to convince his champion to stick around for another fight.

“When I left Abu Dhabi last time, and he and I were texting, we went back and forth on why I think he should keep fighting,” White said. “He was super emotional coming out of that fight. He’s had time now to rest, think about it, (and) all the other things. This is going to be a five-minute conversation. … I think he’ll fight, but we’ll see. It’s not going to be an argument or a lengthy conversation. It’s going to be a ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”

Nurmagomedov, 32, sits one fight away from a perfect 30-0 record. White has indicated he wants Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor to be the milestone 30th attempt in a rematch if McGregor beats Dustin Poirier at UFC 257 next week.

The UFC’s third stint on “Fight Island” kicks off Saturday with UFC on ABC 1, headlined by featherweights Max Holloway and Calvin Kattar. On Wednesday, UFC on ESPN 20 takes place with a welterweight main event between Michael Chiesa and Neil Magny.

The three-event stretch concludes Saturday, Jan. 23, with UFC 257 and a pay-per-view headliner rematch between McGregor and Poirier.