Khabib Fires Back At Dana White's Claims: 'This Is An Absolute Lie'

Khabib Nurmagomedov has pushed back directly at Dana White after the UFC CEO suggested his retirement was financially motivated, calling the claim a lie.

White's suggestion was that Nurmagomedov's decision to retire following his submission win over Justin Gaethje in October 2020 was driven by a large sum of money earned on a so-called Muslim world tour after his victory over Conor McGregor. Khabib rejected that version of events.

"These are the kinds of headlines I sometimes read online. Of course, I'm not someone who likes to comment on every piece of garbage on the internet, but when Dana says things like this, it spreads everywhere.

“This is an absolute lie. Nobody ever gave me those millions, and what they're writing — that I left the sport because I made a lot of money — is also not true. The whole world knows the real truth. I've already spoken about this more than once, and there's no need to repeat it,” Khabib said

Nurmagomedov dedicated his performance against Gaethje to his late father Abdulmanap, who passed away earlier in 2020, and announced in the Octagon that he had made a promise to his mother not to fight again after losing him. It was one of the most emotional retirement announcements in UFC history, until White introduced a financial dimension that Khabib is now forcefully rejecting.

The relationship between Khabib and the UFC has remained broadly positive since his retirement and Hall of Fame induction in 2022, which makes White's framing of events an unusual move.