In an alternate universe, Khabib Nurmagomedov may have become a massive football star.
Instead, ‘The Eagle’ was swayed by the pull of combat sports in his native Dagestani. Of course, we already know how that story ends. Nurmagomedov went on to amass an impressive undefeated 29-0 record in mixed martial arts, including a UFC lightweight championship reign that saw him successfully defend the title against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje.
“I became a fighter by accident… I’m joking not by accident,” Nurmagomedov wrote in a previous post on Instagram. “I will tell you someday about my fascination with football as a child and how I wrote 200 football names on my notebook while sitting in class (in the 6th grade) (there was no Internet back then).”
Despite going a different direction, Nurmagomedov is still a devoted fan of the sport, naming Brazil’s Ronaldo Nazario and French star Zinedine Zidane as just a few of his football heroes.
Recently, the faithful Real Madrid CF fan paid tribute to two of the club’s biggest stars, Kylian Mbappe and Jude Bellingham, by striking their signature celebration poses during a football training session.
Jude Bellingham reacts to khabib Nurmagomedov’s tribute
Gettind wind of Nurmagomedov’s post, Bellingham shared a screenshot of the homage on his Instagram Stories.
Nurmagomedov closed the book on his mixed martial arts career in 2020 and has since put his focus on training the next generation of Dagestani world champions. In that regard, ‘The Eagle’ has already found great success as a coach via his protege, Islam Makhachev, who claimed the UFC’s 155-pound title via a second-round submission victory over Charles Oliveira in October 2022.
Usman Nurmagomedov, cousin of the famed UFC star, currently sits as the Bellator lightweight champion with successful defenses against Benson Henderson, Brent Primus, and Alexander Shabliy.
There’s also a chance we could see yet another Nurmagomedov claim gold in the near future as Umar Nurmagomedov, the undefeated brother of Usman Nurmagomedov, is expected to be the first challenger for newly minuted UFC bantamweight titleholder Merab Dvalishvili.
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