Dana White: Khabib OFFICIALLY RETIRED 29-0

Mar 19, 2021

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Dana White’s hopes of Khabib returning for the elusive 30-0 record has now ended. In his Twitter account, he posted that the Dagestani fighter is officially retired from the fight game.

29-0 it is.

He is 💯 officially retired. It was incredible to watch you work @TeamKhabib thank you for EVERYTHING and enjoy whatever is next my friend. pic.twitter.com/QeoSP12zw2

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 19, 2021

What led Khabib’s retirement was due to the passing of his father and his promise to mother that his fight with Justin Gaethje will be his last. After his dominant win, he requested only one thing which was to put his name on the number 1 pound for pound list. He then proceeded to announce his retirement.

At first, Dana White did not accept the retirement, he wanted Khabib to return, most likely for the Khabib-McGregor 2, had he won the fight against Poirier. Unfortunately for White, Poirier came out victorious.

Khabib was so dominant in his UFC run that he barely lost a round, in his title defenses it was all wins via stoppage. His argument against Dana on why he is staying retired is because he thinks that there is no more challenge in the lightweight division. Although he did tell Dana that if there are anything interesting to happen, he might come back.

Now that the Khabib era ended, the lightweight division can now move on. The lightweight crown will be vacant and there are a lot of talented contenders that are more than ready to take it. The clear number one lightweight is Dustin Poirier since he has wins over McGregor and Gaethje. He was also a former interim champion and his last loss was against Khabib.

Charles Oliveira is also an rising star, where he just keeps on improving his game. His potential might be the highest since he is still young and he is more well rounded compared to other fighters.

Michael Chandler who just made one of the best UFC debut is also in the mix. According to Chandler, his style could pose a threat to Khabib but we will never know. Some reports indicate that he will be fighting Justin Gaethje.

And Lastly, the fighter that Khabib thinks will be the next champion, Islam Makhachev. His Dagestani brother, where many think is more skilled than Khabib. There is a lot of hype in his rise but he is yet to prove his name as he has not fought a top 5 contender yet.