Khabib Nurmagomedov weighed in on Dustin Poirier’s likely return to the Octagon in 2025.
Dustin Poirier, after falling to Islam Makhachev at UFC 302, is planning for a UFC retirement fight booking next year. After initially teasing an abrupt retirement following UFC 302, Poirier is eager to appear in the cage at least one more time before ultimately hanging up the gloves.
Poirier and Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired in 2020 after a win over Justin Gaethje, will forever be linked for their UFC 242 title clash in 2019. Nurmagomedov successfully unified the UFC lightweight titles by submitting Poirier with a rear-naked choke in the third round.
After walking away from fighting, Nurmagomedov has turned his full-time attention to coaching and mentoring some of the sport’s top stars. UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad spent his UFC 304 camp with Team Khabib as he prepared for his showdown with Leon Edwards.
Nurmagomedov believes Poirier should walk away and resist any temptations following his upcoming return to the Octagon.
During a recent interview on the Pound 4 Pound podcast, Nurmagomedov weighed in on Poirier’s planned retirement fight.
“I think Poirier can beat Charles [Oliveira], and then Poirier has to stop fighting, he’s finished,” Nurmagomedov said of Poirier. “Justin Gaethje, Khabib, Dustin Poirier, Tony Ferguson. This is old school, brother. Stop fighting.”
“ We have to recognize the real things.”
Nurmagomedov was in Makhachev’s corner for his victory against Poirier at UFC 302. As of this writing, Poirier hasn’t weighed in nor responded to Nurmagomedov’s pleas to retire.
Despite being just 36 years young, Nurmagomedov remains content in retirement, despite several lucrative offers from UFC CEO Dana White to return. He was briefly linked to a potential fight with fellow UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre in 2021, but the matchup never materialized.
Poirier isn’t the only former Nurmagomedov rival who ‘The Eagle’ has urged to walk away from fighting in recent years. Nurmagomedov has also publicly urged Tony Ferguson, who is on an eight-fight losing streak, to retire from fighting after multiple attempts to book their fight fell through during their careers.
Dustin Poirier could welcome Ilia Topuria to the lightweight division
In terms of a potential opponent for Poirier’s return, several options are on the table, including a possible clash with Ilia Topuria. After defending the UFC featherweight title at UFC 308, Topuria has teased a move to lightweight and has called out Charles Oliveira for his divisional comeback.
Poirier’s most recent victory came against Benoit Saint-Denis at UFC 299 earlier this year. Before that, Poirier lost for the then-vacant BMF title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 291.
As for Nurmagomedov, he’s preparing for what should be a busy evening of coaching at UFC 311 next month. Khabib’s cousin, Umar, fights against Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event, while Makhachev returns against Arman Tsarukyan one fight later.
As Poirier closes in on his potential UFC sendoff, Nurmagomedov is hopeful he’ll stay on track to retire after one more fight. After game planning against Poirier in his most recent fight, Nurmagomedov wants to see another one of the UFC’s all-time legends walk away before suffering additional damage.
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