Daniel Cormier, Chael Sonnen discuss Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring 'way too soon'

USA Today

28-05-2025

Daniel Cormier, Chael Sonnen discuss Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring 'way too soon'
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Two of the UFC's top analysts have thoughts on Khabib Nurmagomedov's retirement as the five-year anniversary approaches later this year.
Daniel Cormier and Chael Sonnen, who coached the current Season 33 of "The Ultimate Fighter" opposite each other, had different views on Nurmagomedov retiring as an undefeated UFC lightweight champion.
Nurmagomedov (29-0 MMA, 13-0 UFC) hung up his gloves after notching his third lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020. He made a promise to his mother that he would no longer compete after his father and coach, Abdulmanap, passed away.
"Way too soon," Cormier told Bleacher Report on the timing of Nurmagomedov's retirement. "I thought Khabib could have been fighting today, and there's a chance, because I mean, Islam (Makhachev) is a bit of an extension of who he was. But to know them is to know that when his dad passed, it took a lot away from him. And so when he decided I'm going to do something different, mom's like, 'Hey, you and your father started this journey together, I don't want you to do it without him.' If he made that promise, I knew it was over.''
Sonnen, meanwhile, thinks Nurmagomedov could have been lured by the UFC into fighting again, despite UFC CEO Dana White trying hard to make it happen and failing to bring "The Eagle" back.
"I will tell you this: When the UFC started to negotiate with Khabib, they started adding zeros and commas and bigger checks, and bigger checks, and Conor (McGregor) Part 2," Sonnen said. "The UFC missed it. That wasn't the number they needed to change. The number they needed to change was a 155-pound weight class to 170 pound weight class. You would have got Khabib vs. Conor 2. It wasn't that he didn't want to fight, and he didn't want to fight Conor. I don't believe that. He didn't want to beat the scale anymore, and that's the one thing that the company did miss.''