Khabib Nurmagomedov famously walked away from fighting following his third UFC lightweight title defense in 2020.
After amassing an incredible 29-0 record, ‘The Eagle’ decided that it was time to hang up the gloves. Despite cutting his career short, Nurmagomedov is still considered one of the greatest fighters in UFC history. His legacy now continues through his students including current lightweight champions Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov.
Fans today still question why a fighter who was in his prime and on top of the world would suddenly walk away from the sport that made him a millionaire. The decision to retire came just a few months after the tragic passing of Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s father and head coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. That undoubtedly played a significant role in his decision but keeping the promise he made to his mother is why we will likely never see ‘The Eagle’ compete again.
Team Khabib has a lightweight champion in both UFC and Bellator and their names are Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov
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— AlAudhli ??????? (@alaudhli) November 19, 2022
For Khabib Nurmagomedov, Keeping the Promise He Made to His Mother is ‘Everything’
Appearing at a Class A Events convention in Toronto, Nurmagomedov spoke about the love and respect he has for his mother and as a result, will never break the promise he made to her. The promise to never fight again.
“Because of I finish my career, because I promise mother, that’s why this one question, discussion between me and my mother become very famous,” Nurmagomedov said. “But we had a lot of different things people don’t know about this. Not only this promise. I follow not only this promise to my mother. I follow everything about Mother. You can have friends or kids, whatever. You can have whatever you want, but you’re never going to have one more mother. You have only one mother. For me, it’s everything. For me, it’s everything.”
“I love mother because of millions and millions of reason,” Nurmagomedov said. “I know even in Dagestan, this is not about Dagestan, but I know a lot of people have bad relationship with parents. I really, really don’t understand this. How can people have bad relationship with parents? Yes, mother, for me is everything. Even now, she is still with me, like living with me in same house. I treat her like queen.”
Though we may never see Khabib Nurmagomedov compete inside the Octagon again, you can still catch a glimpse of ‘The Eagle’ cornering the next generation of Dagestani superstars.