Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired with a perfect 29-0 record and relinquished the UFC lightweight title, is seen at a ceremony. [Getty Images]
Khabib Nurmagomedov, who retired with a perfect 29-0 record and relinquished the UFC lightweight title, is seen at a ceremony. [Getty Images]

MVP, the upstart MMA promotion that recently merged with PFL, tried to lure undefeated legend Khabib Nurmagomedov out of retirement — and was effectively turned down.

MVP representative Jake Paul and co-founder Nakisa Bidarian attended a PFL event at UBS Arena in Belmont Park, New York, on Friday — just days after the merger was officially announced. The two met Khabib at the venue, where he was serving as a corner man for Usman Nurmagomedov, who defended the lightweight title by defeating Archie Colgan in the main event.

Backstage, Paul tried to bring the UFC Hall of Famer into the newly launched MVP promotion. In a promotional YouTube video documenting the merger, Paul made a direct appeal to Khabib.

"What we're doing with this MVP merger is changing MMA forever. We want to provide better conditions for fighters. If you fight in our organization, this sport will change forever. Ultimately, what matters is change."

Khabib called the merger itself "good for the MMA industry," but his response to Paul's pitch was not captured on video.

A social media post Khabib shared a few days later, however, made his feelings clear enough. He posted a photo of himself alongside the caption: "My face when people start trying to convince me to come back."

In truth, the chances of Khabib accepting were slim from the start. Widely regarded as one of the greatest lightweights of all time, he announced his retirement after defending his title with a victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020. He said he saw no reason to continue fighting after the death of his father and coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.

Since retiring, Khabib has remained closely involved with UFC and the broader industry as a coach, but he has repeatedly dismissed any possibility of a comeback, saying he has no intention of fighting again.


yjc@heraldcorp.com