Media Dustin Poirier says Khabib held up division and cost him title. Was Khabib worried about Conor being champion?

[richardjohnson]

It is irrelevant whether or not Dana “accepts” anything.

Khabib doesn’t need Dana’s authorization to retire. Why are you so hung up on Dana accepting it.

Come on dude, why are you being intentionally ignorant? Khabib didn’t need authorization to retire, which is why he did. The only reason it was made “official” months later is because Dana was holding on to hope that he wouldn’t. Khabib can’t control Dana’s feelings or what he says, but he never wavered from his decision to retire after the Gaethje fight.

 

[markg171]

Let's assume for a second that you're right, even though you're only referencing the Anti Doping policy, is there any proof that Jon and/or his team sent one of these letters you speak of? And conversely, is there any proof that Khabib and/or his team didn't?

You seem to think these "letters" are the end all be all but the only proof you have that Khabib never sent one is because it took Dana months to finally accept that Khabib wasn't coming back. Confirmation bias is strong here.

I have the proof being that Khabib is magically the only fighter in UFC history who announced he was done fighting but then also held the belt, his rankings, was in the testing pool, etc., for another 6 months.

Use some logic mate and figure out that Khabib never actually retired in October. Hell, listen to his own interviews at the time where he was admitting the division was being held up by him not vacating as he wanted to hold the belt until a new title fight. Or his manager who said they didn't withdraw from USADA until March after their final meeting.

Khabib was the problem, not Dana. Dana was doing exactly what he should've been doing with a "retired" fighter who was oddly never submitting his paperwork for retirement and still was an active fighter on their roster.

 

[koa pomaikai]

Come on dude, why are you being intentionally ignorant? Khabib didn’t need authorization to retire, which is why he did. The only reason it was made “official” months later is because Dana was holding on to hope that he wouldn’t. Khabib can’t control Dana’s feelings or what he says, but he never wavered from his decision to retire after the Gaethje fight.

So he didn’t retire in October because he was worried about Dana?

Stop saying he retired in October.

Khabib could have retired in October since he doesn’t need Dana’s approval. He didn’t retire in October, he retired in March.

 

[richardjohnson]

I have the proof being that Khabib is magically the only fighter in UFC history who announced he was done fighting but then also held the belt, his rankings, was in the testing pool, etc., for another 6 months.

Use some logic mate and figure out that Khabib never actually retired in October. Hell, listen to his own interviews at the time where he was admitting the division was being held up by him not vacating as he wanted to hold the belt until a new title fight. Or his manager who said they didn't withdraw from USADA until March after their final meeting.

Khabib was the problem, not Dana. Dana was doing exactly what he should've been doing with a "retired" fighter who was oddly never submitting his paperwork for retirement and still was an active fighter on their roster.

Khabib is also one of the few fighters that Dana has tried to convince to not retire. Most of the time he says something along the lines of “if they are thinking about retiring they probably should”. Why don’t you listen to Khabib’s interviews? You know, the one after the Gaethje fight where he said he’s retiring, or the one I linked earlier from March 2021 where he said he retired months ago?

So he didn’t retire in October because he was worried about Dana?

Stop saying he retired in October.

Khabib could have retired in October since he doesn’t need Dana’s approval. He didn’t retire in October, he retired in March.

Lol discussing this with you is like talking to a wall. He did retire in October 2020, he clearly wasn’t worried about Dana. Dana was worried about him retiring because he was losing out on a cash cow.

 

[markg171]

Khabib is also one of the few fighters that Dana has tried to convince to not retire. Most of the time he says something along the lines of “if they are thinking about retiring they probably should”. Why don’t you listen to Khabib’s interviews? You know, the one after the Gaethje fight where he said he’s retiring, or the one I linked earlier from March 2021 where he said he retired months ago?

Lol discussing this with you is like talking to a wall. He did retire in October 2020, he clearly wasn’t worried about Dana. Dana was worried about him retiring because he was losing out on a cash cow.

Khabib himself said in February 2021 he hadn't vacated the title and was waiting until a new title fight to do so. The same day he retired, vacated the title, withdrew from USADA, exited the rankings, etc., magically coincidentally also happened to be the same day Charles/Chandler was announced for the new title.

Khabib retired in March dude lol. He wasn't some magical unicorn that was incapable of retiring on his own, he was holding onto the belt and just not taking any more fights until there was a successor in line.

 

[markg171]

Setting aside some of the other stuff people said about Khabib never walking back his retirement, the UFC made Poirier an offer to fight for the title after the second McGregor fight, he chose to fight McGregor for the trilogy fight instead.

Sure but Dustin's point was that Dustin/Conor 2 would've been the vacant title fight had Khabib vacated the title in October.

The trilogy would've been his 1st defence and then Charles would've been his 2nd.

 

[richardjohnson]

Khabib himself said in February 2021 he hadn't vacated the title and was waiting until a new title fight to do so. The same day he retired, vacated the title, withdrew from USADA, exited the rankings, etc., magically coincidentally also happened to be the same day Charles/Chandler was announced for the new title.

Khabib retired in March dude lol. He wasn't some magical unicorn that was incapable of retiring on his own, he was holding onto the belt and just not taking any more fights until there was a successor in line.

He retired in October, after the Gaethje fight. He’s always said that. He was told that USADA would keep testing him for six months after his retirement so he went along with it. Dana/the UFC could’ve done whatever they wanted with the belt after his retirement but they kept him as champ because they thought it would increase the chances of him coming back. This was all common knowledge, it’s only now that we’re a few years removed that people are trying to act like that wasn’t the case.

 

[KO Shotz]

Sure but Dustin's point was that Dustin/Conor 2 would've been the vacant title fight had Khabib vacated the title in October.

The trilogy would've been his 1st defence and then Charles would've been his 2nd.

This is true

But

it is also true that losing to Islam, Khabib, & Oliveria in title fights is what kept him from being LW champion.

 

[markg171]

He retired in October, after the Gaethje fight. He’s always said that. He was told that USADA would keep testing him for six months after his retirement so he went along with it. Dana/the UFC could’ve done whatever they wanted with the belt after his retirement but they kept him as champ because they thought it would increase the chances of him coming back. This was all common knowledge, it’s only now that we’re a few years removed that people are trying to act like that wasn’t the case.

USADA tested Khabib for 6 months and the UFC kept a retired fighter as their champion instead of making new title fights for the hell of it?

Okay there pal.

 

[richardjohnson]

USADA tested Khabib for 6 months and the UFC kept a retired fighter as their champion instead of making new title fights for the hell of it?

Okay there pal.

I don’t know if it was just for the hell of it, but it was almost certainly because Khabib was the gateway to the oil money that you guys are always complaining about having too much influence on the sport. It’s not too dissimilar to them letting Jon Jones sit on the HW title for two years despite him having zero interest in fighting the interim champ.

At no point did Khabib ever even hint at making a comeback.

 

[markg171]

I don’t know if it was just for the hell of it, but it was almost certainly because Khabib was the gateway to the oil money that you guys are always complaining about having too much influence on the sport. It’s not too dissimilar to them letting Jon Jones sit on the HW title for two years despite him having zero interest in fighting the interim champ.

At no point did Khabib ever even hint at making a comeback.

I'm quite positive that Conor/Dustin 2 in Abu Dhabi would've been worth a hell of a lot more money to the "oil money" peoples had it been for the LW title instead of being a random PPV without one.

Khabib not wanting to come back for another fight is completely irrelevant as to whether or not he was also holding onto the belt by not actually retiring. You're soooooo close to getting that when you say it's "like Jon" where Jon wasn't fighting but also wasn't actually retiring so remained champion.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

DP’s point wasn’t that he deserved it, but that he would have got it.

Regardless of if you think DP vs Conor should have been for a title, it almost certainly would have been given both were just contenders and Mcgregor being the biggest draw in the sport.

It is hard to deny the fact that had Khabib formally retired, Mcgregor vs Poirier would be for the title.

Maybe this has already been explained in the thread, but what do you mean by “formally retired”

 

[richardjohnson]

I'm quite positive that Conor/Dustin 2 in Abu Dhabi would've been worth a hell of a lot more money to the "oil money" peoples had it been for the LW title instead of being a random PPV without one.

Khabib not wanting to come back for another fight is completely irrelevant as to whether or not he was also holding onto the belt by not actually retiring. You're soooooo close to getting that when you say it's "like Jon" where Jon wasn't fighting but also wasn't actually retiring so remained champion.

I'm quite positive that Khabib vs Conor 2 would've been the holy grail for the oil sheikhs, which is why Dana was pushing so hard for Khabib to come back.

Safe to say this clip speaks for itself:



The guy never made any idication that he would come back, anytime he was asked about a potential comeback he disputed it. Him "holding onto the belt" was because it took Dana and the UFC six months to move on. They could've taken that belt from him the minute he retired but they didn't because they wanted him to come back. Khabib wasn't humming and hawing with the belt hoping to get favourable matchups the same way Jones was, and he actually fought the interim champs in his division.

No offence man but this is pretty simple to understand.

 

[koa pomaikai]

Maybe this has already been explained in the thread, but what do you mean by “formally retired”

Cancelled ufc contract by notifying of retirement formally.

There are two ways to get out of a ufc contract, written response of official retirement, or fight it out.

 

[markg171]

I'm quite positive that Khabib vs Conor 2 would've been the holy grail for the oil sheikhs, which is why Dana was pushing so hard for Khabib to come back.

Safe to say this clip speaks for itself:



The guy never made any idication that he would come back, anytime he was asked about a potential comeback he disputed it. Him "holding onto the belt" was because it took Dana and the UFC six months to move on. They could've taken that belt from him the minute he retired but they didn't because they wanted him to come back. Khabib wasn't humming and hawing with the belt hoping to get favourable matchups the same way Jones was, and he actually fought the interim champs in his division.

No offence man but this is pretty simple to understand.

You are really struggling to understand that if Khabib ACTUALLY retired then he is neither a UFC fighter nor champion any more, and there's zero Dana can do about it.

You know, just like he hasn't been able to since Khabib ACTUALLY retired in March 2021.

If Khabib doesn't ACTUALLY retire and simply stops accepting new fights, then he remains champion and fighter and so of course Dana is going to offer him fights. In fact he's legally obligated to offer him 3 per year.

Khabib never formally retired so Dana went forward with his contender fights for Khabib's next defence. If Khabib had formally retired Dana would've made one of them, most likely Conor/Dustin 2, the vacant title fight.

This isn't hard.

 

[Orochimaru 大蛇丸]

Cancelled ufc contract by notifying of retirement formally.

There are two ways to get out of a ufc contract, written response of official retirement, or fight it out.

Not saying you’re wrong, but I’ve never heard of this before

The only thing I’m aware of is fighters getting out of the USADA testing pool

I know for a fact the contract isn’t “cancelled” because retired fighters have tried fighting for other organizations and the UFC have stopped them

But maybe the contract freezes or something I guess?

Where are you getting this from? What examples are there of guys who “formally retired” in a different way than Khabib?

 

[richardjohnson]

You are really struggling to understand that if Khabib ACTUALLY retired then he is neither a UFC fighter nor champion any more, and there's zero Dana can do about it.

You know, just like he hasn't been able to since Khabib ACTUALLY retired in March 2021.

If Khabib doesn't ACTUALLY retire and simply stops accepting new fights, then he remains champion and fighter and so of course Dana is going to offer him fights. In fact he's legally obligated to offer him 3 per year.

Khabib never formally retired so Dana went forward with his contender fights for Khabib's next defence. If Khabib had formally retired Dana would've made one of them, most likely Conor/Dustin 2, the vacant title fight.

This isn't hard.

I don’t know how to put this anymore simply for you. After he fought Gaethje he said he was retiring, he hasn’t fought since and made no indication that he would fight again. What more do you need? All this “well actually…” you’re trying to come up with is irrelevant.

 

[markg171]

Not saying you’re wrong, but I’ve never heard of this before

The only thing I’m aware of is fighters getting out of the USADA testing pool

I know for a fact the contract isn’t “cancelled” because retired fighters have tried fighting for other organizations and the UFC have stopped them

But maybe the contract freezes or something I guess?

Where are you getting this from? What examples are there of guys who “formally retired” in a different way than Khabib?

What example do you have other than Khabib of a guy who said he was done but then never actually retired, vacated the title, withdrew from USADA, was pulled from the rankings, etc?

You're so close to getting that maybe Khabib didn't actually retire until March 2021 when all those things happened like they've happened with every single other fighter who actually retires.

 

[markg171]

I don’t know how to put this anymore simply for you. After he fought Gaethje he said he was retiring, he hasn’t fought since and made no indication that he would fight again. What more do you need? All this “well actually…” you’re trying to come up with is irrelevant.

I think it's quite relevant that you seem to think Khabib, who knows many former fighters including Cormier who retired 2 months before his last fight, and has a manager, doesn't seem to know how to retire.

 

[Dark Lord]

These damn Russians from Dagestan, arrogant, religious fanatics, think they rule the UFC, especially Khabib's sect.