UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in the cage following his defeat of Justin Gaethje recently. Despite this, UFC President Dana White says he has no plans to vacate the title. He addressed Khabib’s status as champion during the post-event media conference this weekend.
“He’s considering the 30-0,” White said about Khabib possibly not retiring after all (transcriptions via MMA Fighting). “His father wanted it and I think that he was super emotional. Had the mumps or measles or whatever, broken toe, trained on a stationary bike for that fight and then came in and fought. I think he was super emotional.”
White then confirmed that there are no plans to vacate the UFC lightweight belt despite Khabib saying he is retired.
“He’s still the champ. There’s no vacant title open right now or no interim title happening. He’s the champ and we’ll give him some time to figure out what he wants to do.”
White then addressed who is the top pound-for-pound fighter in the world. He said that while Jon Jones may be the GOAT, he’s not the top fighter in the world right now.
“He is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world,” White continued to say about Nurmagomedov. “I mean just that performance with Gaethje on top of being undefeated and only maybe losing two rounds in his entire career, I would say he’s the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world.”
“I’ve been telling you guys Jon Jones is the GOAT forever. He’s not the pound-for-pound best fighter in the world right now.”
