Khabib Nurmagomedov had a fun run-in with Wolverhampton Wanderers star Adama Traore earlier this week.

Even in his post-retirement days, Khabib Nurmagomedov seems to be thriving in every way imaginable. From his business ventures to his coaching duties and beyond, ‘The Eagle’ truly is one of the biggest stars to ever come out of the UFC.

He also happens to be one of the most in-demand figures across combat sports with everybody wanting to either meet him, collaborate with him or simply listen to what he has to say about mixed martial arts.

That includes some of his fellow athletes, too, with his unbeaten record of 29-0 serving as a shining example of what can be achieved at the elite level in this game.

He’s been retired since back in 2020 following his win over Justin Gaethje and yet, even in the present day, he possesses the kind of aura that leaves a lot of people awestruck whenever they come across him.

It’s been well documented in the past that Khabib has a pretty extensive love of football, to the point where he’s even suggested that he’d like to play professionally one day. Some of his favourite stars from across the globe tend to reside in England, including Cristiano Ronaldo, who he’s known to be good friends with.

However, in his latest Instagram post, it was Wolves forward Adama Traore who he came across during a trip to the UK.

“Guess which one of us is a football player? It was nice to meet you Brother”

Will he return?

It’s the question we all want the answer to but quite simply put, it just doesn’t seem likely that Khabib Nurmagomedov is going to break his retirement at any point in the future.

We refuse to believe he doesn’t get the itch to compete every now and then but when you look at his body of work, it’s difficult to argue against what he’s already accomplished. From winning the UFC lightweight title to defending it on multiple occasions, Nurmagomedov has been there and got the t-shirt.

Alas, if there’s going to be a glimmer of hope for his fanbase, it’s going to stem from next month’s UFC 280 pay-per-view in Abu Dhabi.

The reason for that is because his close friend and training partner Islam Makhachev will challenge for the gold when he battles Charles Oliveira in the main event of the show.

‘Do Bronx’ has been the dominant king of the division since Khabib left and if he can put on a  showcase performance against Islam, it may just be enough to lure the Russian back into the cage.