UFC president Dana White isn’t taking no for an answer from Khabib Nurmagomedov, and it might be starting to get a little cringe.
Khabib declared himself retired after his second-round finish of Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. That was three months ago. White, who has stripped fighters of titles at the drop of a hat over the years and handed out interim belts like Halloween candy, insists on maintaining Nurmagomedov’s championship recognition.
As the lightweight title status hovered over the impending UFC 257, which features three fighters who have laid claim to a version of a lightweight title in Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Michael Chandler, as well as a top contender in Dan Hooker, White claimed a meeting with Nurmagomedov would clear things up.
Instead, at UFC on ABC 1, White came out of that meeting and said Khabib told him he would watch the fights intently and maybe return to face the competitor who impressed him the most. Then Khabib basically told a Russian outlet, “Nah.”
But White is a man worth hundreds of millions of dollars who is rarely told no, so he’s not about to just go away. Check out this clip from the latest episode of “Dana White: Looking for a Fight,” as White talks up how big McGregor-Poirier is trending relative to what a Khabib-McGregor rematch could do.
Khabib politely resists:
Khabib is the hot chick at the bar and Dana is the desperate dude that won’t catch the hint that she’s just not that into you pic.twitter.com/sVDGwEEL9Q
— Ashley the MMA Nerd (@The_MMA_Nerd) January 22, 2021
Most people would get the hint by this point, but then, White didn’t help turn the UFC from a dead brand into a multibillion dollar juggernaut by taking no for an answer.
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Video: Khabib Nurmagomedov just doesn’t look that into Dana White’s pitch