Khabib Nurmagomedov Says He Won’t Be Returning to the Octagon but His Legacy Remains
Fans won't be seeing Khabib Nurmagomedov swinging punches in the Octagon anytime soon, maybe ever.
A reporter with TMZ Sports recently caught the UFC coach coming out from Catch in Los Angeles and managed to have a quick chat before the legend went his way.
The outlet's representative questioned if Nurmagomedov had any plans of getting back into the ring in person. "No," the coach replied, "No. No. No. No. No."
Nurmagomedov Has Quit Fighting for Good!
The former fighter repeatedly emphasized that he had no intentions of getting back in the game. The news might be disheartening to fans who believed that he would eventually find his way back, and for good reason.
The 32-year-old went into retirement on a high note after beating Justin Gaethje in 2020. Still, he was in the prime of his career with more than a couple of good fights left in him.
It appears that Nurmagomedov would be keeping the promise he made to his mother to never fight again after the tragic death of his father and coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
However, his long-time coach, Javier Mendez, outed to Betway Insider during a recent interaction that The Eagle missed fighting. At the time, Mendez admitted,
I guess you could say he wants to fight again.
Nevertheless, Nurmagomedov is trying his best to enjoy his post-fighting MMA career as a coach and even told the reporter that he cared more about his fighters winning the fight than getting the Coach of the Year title.
He Retired Undefeated
Nurmagomedov officially retired back in October 2020 while still retaining his lightweight title and a perfect professional record of 29 career wins.
"29-0 it is," UFC president Dana White had tweeted at the time.
Prior to that, White said that he hoped Nurmagomedov would return for a 30th victory but later accepted that the Russian fighter was gone for good.
"He is 100% officially retired," White added. "It was incredible to watch you work, Khabib. Thank you for everything and enjoy whatever is next my friend."
Many avid fans of the sport still consider Nurmagomedov one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, not just because he emerged victorious in all of his fights but because he dominated every fight he was in.
Before the Legend
Even before his debut in the UFC cage in January 2012, the talented fighter had quite a few feathers in his hat. Nurmagomedov has two golds for the 2008 and 2009 combat sambo world championships.
His martial arts prowess reaches far beyond the MMA, coming from a family of fighters. He was the Eurasian hand-to-hand combat champion, a European pankration champion, and a North American Grappling Association champion.
From his MMA debut in September 2008 to October 2011, Nurmagomedov had a 16-0 undefeated record while competing entirely in Russia and Ukraine.
Not to water down his accolades, but his record is reflective of his father, who in 2019 secured a name in the Russian Book of Records for training and coaching the most combat sambo champions.
It was he who trained Nurmagomedov from a very young age. He even made his nine-year-old son grapple a bear to build his character.