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“30-0, okay. It’s going to be a great record, this is like Mayweather in MMA. We’ll see, I’m very close to it.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to be remembered as the Floyd Mayweather of MMA, and what better way to cement his legacy as the greatest MMA fighter of all time than retiring on his 30th fight, with a professional 30-0 record?
Nurmagomedov, who is scheduled to defend his lightweight title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, is currently 28-0 and admits that the prospect of retiring undefeated is very enticing.
“Honestly, I don’t know,” Nurmagomedov told Yahoo’s Kevin Iole when asked about retirement (h/t Abhinav Kini of The Body Lock MMA). “30-0 is going to be great. It’s looking good, it sounds good.
“30-0, okay. It’s going to be a great record, this is like Mayweather in MMA. We’ll see, I’m very close to it.”
“Who knows? Okay, I finish Justin Gaethje, I finish one more guy, I dominate him — I think my name is going to be always in history,” he added. “I think already my name is going to be in history because two years ago what happened [vs. McGregor] is never going to be forgotten. Even after 50 years, people are going to watch this fight and be impressed. This is like when Muhammad Ali fought [Joe] Frazier in Manila. People never forget this fight.
“I’m already in history but I need legacy. For legacy, Justin Gaethje is a great opponent right now.”
The reigning UFC lightweight champion would like to face Georges St-Pierre for his 30th fight and, although negotiations failed the first time around, UFC president Dana White is open to the matchup if ‘The Eagle’ gets past ‘The Highlight’ at UFC 254.
The highly anticipated pay-per-view, which features Khabib vs. Gaethje as the main event, takes place on Oct. 24 at Yas Island in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.