White shoots down Khabib Nurmagomedov’s tweet: ‘I wasn’t in that meeting’

It certainly was news to UFC President Dana White that Khabib Nurmagomedov was in the running for UFC 200.

White was confused when he heard Nurmagomedov had announced an offer from the UFC to fight Nate Diaz or Georges St-Pierre at the July 9 pay-per-view blockbuster.

“What?” White told MMAjunkie when asked about Nurmagomedov’s tweet. “To the best of my knowledge, that is completely inaccurate. I wasn’t in that meeting.”

A fight with Diaz (19-10 MMA, 14-8 UFC) would definitely be an interesting turn for Nurmagomedov, as would St-Pierre (23-2 MMA 19-2 UFC), whose presence at UFC 200 could be a possibility with successful contract negotiations. But the former welterweight champion hasn’t fought in three years, so a fight with a lightweight in his comeback would be odd, to say the least.

Then again, Nurmagomedov may just have been doing a little bit of wishful thinking. Not only does he fight at 155 pounds, which is 15 below the welterweight limit set for Diaz’s ill-fated rematch with Conor McGregor (19-3 MMA, 7-1 UFC), but the event falls just four days after the end of Ramadan.

UFC 200 takes place July 9 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. The main card airs on pay-per-view following prelims on FOX Sports 1 and UFC Fight Pass.

As a devout Muslim, Nurmagomedov (23-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) ruled out a return to the octagon at the summer event before his successful comeback fight against Darrell Horcher (12-2 MMA, 0-1 UFC) at UFC on FOX 19. Instead, he targeted a return for the fall, when he could complete a full training camp.

Nurmagomedov reiterated that timeline when revealing the UFC’s offer.

“They hope that I will take the fight,” Nurmagomedov said. “But it is four days after the month of Ramadan, and it would be hard physically to fight five rounds. I’ll be back in September and October.”

It’s not yet certain what’s in store for the Dagestan standout, but a meeting with the winner of an upcoming title bout between champ Rafael dos Anjos – whom he’s previously beaten – and Eddie Alvarez at UFC Fight Night 90 is a possibility. There’s also the chance of yet another reboot with his rival Tony Ferguson, whom he was slated to face at UFC on FOX 19 before Ferguson was forced to withdraw from the event due to injury.

But from the sound of it, the only certainty for Nurmagomedov is a few months of layoff.

For more on UFC 200, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.