If Khabib Nurmagomedov Decides To "go Down The Mountain", This One UFC Fighter Could Be A Tough Opponent

Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov. (PHOTO/INSTAGRAM @khabib_nurmagomedov)

JAKARTA - The discourse of Khabib Nurmagomedov returning from retirement continues to surface. Reportedly, he will be pitted against Charles Oliveira.

Charles Oliveira is considered a potential fighter to beat the former UFC champion. Currently Oliveira is one of the best fighters in the lightweight division.

He is the latest lightweight champion although he doesn't hold that status in an official capacity. He was stripped of his UFC title before the main UFC 274 match against Justin Gaethje.

The controversial dismissal was carried out because the Brazilian fighter did not qualify for the scales.

"That's the only interesting fight I would like to see if Khabib returns to this division. I think Charles is the only one who can really give Khabib trouble and, who knows, maybe that's why Khabib stayed away," said fighter Sean O'Malley.

Oliveira himself is a fighter who was included in the UFC in the fight for the no-man's lightweight title left by Khabib. At that time he went down against Michael Chandler.

In the UFC 262 duel, Oliveira successfully knocked out Chandler and was crowned the new lightweight king. After that he won twice in a row, beating Dustin Poirier and Gaethje, whom Khabib had previously beaten.

O'Malley said he was delighted that Oliveira's chance against Khabib had materialized. He also suspects Khabib's decision to retire may be due to the improvement shown by Oliveira.

"Maybe he [Khabib] saw, 'I don't want to fight that guy'. Who knows, but yeah, that's the one fight I'm interested in seeing Khabib back. It's going to be a massive fight," O'Malley said.

The duel between Oliveira and Khabib is unlikely to happen. The reason is the fighter from Dagestan has really made up his mind to retire from the sport that made his name after the victory over Gaethje at UFC 254 then.