UPDATED UFC President Dana White Bids Farewell to Champ Khabib Nurmagomedov

29-0 it is.

He is officially retired. It was incredible to watch you work @TeamKhabib thank you for EVERYTHING and enjoy whatever is next my friend. pic.twitter.com/QeoSP12zw2

— danawhite (@danawhite) March 19, 2021

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Editor's note: The article has been updated at 1 a.m. ET on March 19 to add a statement from the former champion.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight division formally has no champion any longer.

UFC President Dana White announced on social media that he was officially giving up the chase to keep Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0) active on the roster. The lightweight king announced his retirement after his victory at 254 over Justin Gaethje, with it being his final bout after his father’s passing in 2020. The UFC head persisted to change Nurmagomedov’s mind, but the Dagestani champ would not budge.

“29-0 it is,” White wrote. “He is [100 percent] officially retired. It was incredible to watch you work [Khabib Nurmagomedov] thank you for EVERYTHING and enjoy whatever is next my friend.”

Nurmagomedov called it a career with the greatest undefeated record in MMA history. Although other fighters throughout the sport amassed similarly impressive unbeaten records on their way up, like John Strawn (29-0), Julio Cesar Neves Jr. (30-0) and Luis Rafael Laurentino (31-0), each man suffered losses after reaching those tallies. “The Eagle,” should he stay retired and not come back, would likely hold this top spot for quite some time. Only Khusein Askhabov (23-0) and Yaroslav Amosov (25-0) currently sport unbeaten records of at least 20 victories without a defeat on a noteworthy stage.

“The Eagle” will go down in company history as one of the greatest to do it, with victories in each of his 13 UFC appearances. Only Anderson Silva has notched more consecutive wins with the Las Vegas-based promotion. Defeating the likes of Gleison Tibau, Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Johnson and Edson Barboza on his way up, Nurmagomedov challenged and defeated Al Iaquinta for the vacant lightweight throne at UFC 223 in 2018. From there, he defended it three times, a UFC lightweight record, against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Gaethje. The champ submitted all three, in the fourth, third and second rounds, respectively.

The promotion has already determined its next two challengers for the vacant 155-pound championship, in a battle that will be waged atop UFC 262 in May.

On his Instagram shortly after White made his statement, Nurmagomedov responded with gratitude to his former employer.

“It was a good dinner with some great people,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “Dana White thank you so much brother and the entire UFC team for the opportunity prove myself, you guys have changed many [lives] forever because of this sport.

“Dana - I'll never forget your attitude towards me, my father did not forget and my sons will remember you. Today there was a real conversation between men.

“Also thank you to all [teams], [sparring] partners and all fans. I hope you will accept my decision and understand me.”