Conor McGregor's MMA Career Over, Khabib Nurmagomedov Says

Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the top contenders for Conor McGregor's UFC lightweight championship, but the 29-year-old is unsure whether he'll ever have the opportunity to challenge McGregor. 

"When's the last time Conor compete in MMA? ... Long time. He's boxing guy," Nurmagomedov said of McGregor, alluding to McGregor's prolonged absence from the Octagon, per TMZ Sports. "... I don't think he gonna come back."  

Nurmagomedov is set to fight Tony Ferguson for the interim lightweight title at UFC 223 on April 7.

McGregor hasn't fought since defeating Eddie Alvarez at UFC 205 in November 2016.

ESPN.com's Dan Rafael reported McGregor was set to earn at least $30 million from fighting Floyd Mayweather Jr. last August, with his full purse likely to climb higher than $100 million. Because of that financial windfall, some wondered whether McGregor would want to fight in UFC again at all.

Even UFC President Dana White sounded unsure of McGregor's future in a December interview on SportsCenter.

"Get through the holidays, and hopefully he starts to get the itch to come back and hopefully we can get him back this summer," White said (h/t MMAjunkie's Steven Marrocco).

A month later, though, White said he was prepared to strip McGregor of the lightweight title if he waited until September to fight again, per MMAjunkie's Mike Bohn and Simon Samano:

"If [McGregor] comes back in September, that's almost two years. That can't happen. It's not fair to everybody else. Love Conor, respect Conor, love everything that he's done for this company. Everybody knows that. I say it all the time. [But] the belt would have to move on. You do Khabib vs. Tony; we're working on that fight now. If and when Conor comes back, he would get the first crack at the title."

UFC has yet to officially strip McGregor of the belt.

McGregor told TMZ's Adam Glyn earlier this month he's "in negotiations" with his next opponent, listing Mayweather, Ferguson and Nate Diaz among his options. McGregor also mentioned "an undefeated Dagestani" as a possible opponent, referencing Nurmagomedov.