After allegedly leaving Khabib Nurmagomedov on read, UFC President Dana White has had to explain why he did not respond to text messages sent by the former champ.
Dana White and Khabib Nurmagomedov have a very good relationship. Ever since the undefeated Russian left the UFC, and started his own promotion, he has been very vocal about how much support he has received from Dana.
But recently things got stirred up a bit. Speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN, the Dagestan-born Khabib admitted that Dana did not respond to his texts for the first time since they have known each other.
“Honestly, this is first time since we started talking to each other that he don’t respond to me. I send him message saying ‘No way someone else can fight for the title. Islam has to be there.’ He didn’t respond. I think he’s busy, maybe. It’s OK. Everybody make mistake.”
Brett Okamoto was again at the thick of the action, as this time he was interviewing the UFC President, and asked him why he wasn’t responding to the The Eagle’s texts:
“So what he’s saying is I read the message and didn’t respond to it? Well, it was nothing personal. I got him and Ali [Abdelaziz, Makhachev’s manager] all over me about Islam [Makhachev]. There’s no answer, no. I wanted to do that fight with him and Beneil Dariush.”
Dana has been very vocal about his wish to see Makhachev take on Dariush. Makhachev is yet to win against anyone in the top 5 of the division, and his win was also against the unranked Bobby Green. This has become a roadblock for the Russian, but a win over the number 6th ranked Dariush would surely put him title contention. Makhachev also turned down a last minute fight against Rafael Dos Anjos at UFC 272.
