Dana White: Khabib to fight Gaethje in October, open to GSP fight

Image: UFC

In an interview with CNN Tuesday, UFC president Dana White unveiled plans for one of their biggest fights of the fall plus a tease about another fight that would be much bigger.

White said that the lightweight championship unification bout between current champion Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. interim champion Justin Gaethje is a go for Saturday, October 24th with a location TBD.

The undefeated Nurmagomedov has been out of action since last September when he dominated Dustin Poirier in a title defense. Less than two months after Ramadan ended, his father passed away on July 3rd after heart surgery and complications due to COVID-19, adding to his absence. Gaethje defeated Tony Ferguson by fifth round TKO in May to win the interim belt and earn the shot at the Dagestan native.

Then in an ESPN interview, White said that he would be interested in pairing Nurmagomedov against Georges St-Pierre if it was Nurmagomedov’s final fight, a pairing both men talked about wanting to have before GSP’s retirement last year.

“Sure. Yeah, it’s the last fight of his career,” White said. “The guy has been great. He’s been great to the company, he’s been great for the sport, and, I like Khabib Nurmagomedov a lot. I would do anything Khabib wanted to do.”

This came up as the 31-year-old Nurmagomedov’s manager recently said he will retire after two more fights.