Dana White Addresses Rumor Khabib Turned Down $15 Million to Rematch Conor McGregor
Reports of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov's UFC death have been greatly exaggerated. At least, according to UFC president Dana White.
Nurmagomedov landed in hot water after submitting Conor McGregor at UFC 229 when he leapt over the Octagon fence to go after McGregor cornerman Dillon Danis. He's currently facing potential sanctions from the Nevada State Athletic Commission, which withheld his $2 million paycheck for the fight.
During the brawl, some of Nurmagomedov's teammates entered the Octagon, one of them attacking McGregor from behind. That man has been identified as Zubaira Tukhugov. Although White said fighters that entered the Octagon during the melee would never fight in the UFC, Tukhugov has yet to be fired, although he has been pulled from a scheduled bout opposite McGregor teammate Artem Lobov.
Nurmagomedov wasn't happy that Tukhugov might be fired and threatened to break his contract and leave the UFC. White has since said that he and Nurmagomedov have begun working things out and that it's all good.
Meanwhile, there have been other reports, citing Nurmagomedov's uncle as saying that the Dagestani champion doesn't want to fight McGregor again and already turned down a $15 million offer to do so. According to said reports, Nurmagomedov wants to fight Tony Ferguson and then ride off into the sunset.
Though White didn't address such reports in his recent TMZ Sports interview where he indicated that things were "all good" with Nurmagomedov, but he did in a tweet on Tuesday evening, even borrowing from an infamous Nurmagomedov catch phrase to do so.
"This story is Number 1 bulls--t," White tweeted, along with a screen grab of the alleged erroneous report.
In reality, Nurmagomedov and the UFC really aren't in a position to start booking his next fight yet anyway. Although McGregor said almost immediately after the loss that he wanted a rematch, Nurmagomedov and McGregor both must go before the NSAC and learn of any ramifications for their actions during the UFC 229 post-fight brawl before either of them plans a return to the Octagon.
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https://twitter.com/danawhite/status/1052349761796345857
