Photo by Press Office of the Head of the \TASS via Getty Images
Khabib Nurmagomedov proves he fought Justin Gaethje with a broken toe.
Adrenaline is a hell of a drug.
Khabib Nurmagomedov fought — and beat — Justin Gaethje with a broken toe in the UFC 254 main event, as the former UFC lightweight champion posted an X-ray of his injured foot on Instagram earlier today (h/t Mike Heck of MMA Fighting).
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Nurmagomedov, 32, suffered the injury in the final weeks leading up to UFC 254 and, to top it off, the undefeated Dagestani came down with a case of the mumps in training.
Despite enduring a rough training camp — perhaps the worst of his career — Khabib went on to submit Gaethje with a triangle choke in the second round of their headlining lightweight title unification bout at UFC 254 to retain the title and cement his legacy as one of, if not the, greatest fighters of all time.
Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in the post-fight interview and surpassed Jon Jones as the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, per the UFC’s official rankings.