{"id":46216,"date":"2021-03-18T04:26:37","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T05:26:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=46216"},"modified":"2021-03-18T06:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T06:00:00","slug":"undefeated-ufc-megastar-teases-comeback","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=46216","title":{"rendered":"Undefeated UFC megastar teases comeback"},"content":{"rendered":"

Retired UFC superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/a> has teased fans and ex-boss Dana White with a potential return to the fight game.<\/p>\n

The undefeated former lightweight champion posted a photo on his Instagram account alongside Lorenzo Fertitta, the former co-owner of the UFC<\/a>.<\/p>\n

There are no doubts that fight fans would love to see Nurmagomedov, who remains the pound-for-pound best fighter on earth on the UFC's rankings, return to the octagon – but this seemed more a tongue-in-cheek message than a serious one.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CMgt-tvMUCr\/?igshid=1sv5z125dhhkb<\/a><\/p>\n

"It was good to see you Lorenzo," Nurmagomedov wrote.<\/p>\n

"Dana White send me location."<\/p>\n

Along with White, Fertitta and his brother Frank bought the UFC for just $2 million in 2001.<\/p>\n

After they took over, they steadily built their company into a worldwide brand and sold their stake in 2016 for $4 billion, with Lorenzo stepping down as CEO as a result.<\/p>\n

Nurmagomedov steadily rose through the ranks of the fighting world before he exploded in superstardom in 2018, when he dominated Conor McGregor in their much-anticipated fight.<\/p>\n

\"Volkanovski<\/p>\n

He was one of the rare few athletes who retired while still at the top of their game, walking away after last year's victory over Justin Gaethje<\/a> as an undefeated world champion.<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old cited the death of his father, Abdulmanap, as the catalyst for his retirement. His win over Gaethje came just months after his father suffered a fatal heart attack at the age of 57.<\/p>\n

"No way I'm going to come here without my father," he said after the fight.<\/p>\n

"It was first time after what happened with my father, when UFC called me about Justin, I talk with my mother three days.<\/p>\n

"She doesn't want me to go fight without my father but I promised her it was going to be my last fight. If I give my word, I have to follow this. It was my last fight here."<\/p>\n

It is expected a new lightweight champion will be crowned mid-year.<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Retired UFC superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov has teased fans and ex-boss Dana White with a potential return to the fight game. The undefeated former lightweight champion […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46216"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=46216"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46218,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46216\/revisions\/46218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=46216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=46216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=46216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}