Khabib Nurmagomedov pledged to stay retired from MMA following his surprising exit in 2020, and so far, no offer\u2014even a huge payday to fight boxing legend Floyd Mayweather\u2014has been enough to tempt him back. Despite UFC president Dana White\u2019s persistent calls for a rematch with Conor McGregor, Khabib has remained firm in his decision to stay out of competition.<\/p>\n
However, if Alfie Davies, the 2025 PFL World Tournament winner, manages to hand Khabib\u2019s undefeated cousin Usman Nurmagomedov his first loss this weekend, Davies plans to make Khabib his next opponent. This would mark a high-stakes challenge to the Nurmagomedov family\u2019s dominance.<\/p>\n
The rivalry between Alfie Davies and the Dagestan fight crew kicked off after Davies shocked the MMA world by defeating Gazi Rabadanov in last year\u2019s World Tournament final. Now Davies aims to break through the seemingly impenetrable defensive wall of the Nurmagomedov camp by taking on Usman Nurmagomedov next.<\/p>\n
In a recent statement, Davies told the promotion\u2019s social media team that if he beats Usman, his ultimate goal will be to face Khabib Nurmagomedov himself, the man who has already defeated two PFL champions. \u201cI really respect Khabib, but after overcoming Usman, Khabib will be the last boss standing,\u201d Davies remarked, emphasizing that he would want Khabib to come out of retirement for this fight.<\/p>\n
Usman Nurmagomedov, Khabib\u2019s cousin, long seemed untouchable as part of the fearsome Dagestan fighting family. However, his two bouts with Paul Hughes last year showed that he is beatable, and Davies gained valuable insights from those tough 10 rounds. <\/p>\n
Davies, known for a dynamic and unpredictable fighting style, added, \u201cWhen I\u2019m in the zone, I start moving in ways even I don\u2019t expect.\u201d He acknowledges how tough it is to build a concrete game plan due to his spontaneity but believes everyone, including the Dagestanis, is human and vulnerable. \u201cThis is fighting\u2014you get out what you put in.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fan Take:<\/strong> Khabib Nurmagomedov pledged to stay retired from MMA following his surprising exit in 2020, and so far, no offer\u2014even a huge payday to fight boxing legend Floyd Mayweather\u2014has been enough to tempt him back. Despite UFC president Dana White\u2019s persistent calls for a rematch with Conor McGregor, Khabib has remained firm in his decision to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32458,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2443],"tags":[2444],"class_list":{"0":"post-40970","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-fighting","8":"tag-fighting"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40970","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40970"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40970\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32458"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40970"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40970"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportsdaily.news\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40970"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThis emerging rivalry represents an exciting shake-up for MMA fans, pitting the new generation against one of the sport\u2019s most legendary families. If Davies dethrones Usman and challenges Khabib, it could lead to some of the most compelling matchups we’ve seen in years, signaling a thrilling evolution in the lightweight division.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"