Khabib Nurmagomedov is a legend in the UFC’s Lightweight division, where he holds the record for the longest-reigning lightweight champion. This Russian fighter has sealed victory 29 times out of his 29 mixed martial arts appearances. After his father’s death, “The Eagle” announced his retirement while he was the No. 1 pound-for-pound MMA artist.
After the shocking retirement of Khabib, he started his coaching career. On October 22nd, his tutee, Islam Makhacev, will face Charles Oliveira at Etihad Arena Abu Dhabi in the main event of UFC 280 for the vacant lightweight title as Oliveira failed the weight test in his last bout against Justin Gaethje.
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The most followed Russian on Instagram does not play the head coach role. He basically attends his teams’ fighters’ bouts, and before big clashes, Khabib gives some tips to the grapplers and motivates his teammates from the corner.
Aside from mentoring, the former UFC fighter has a great investment portfolio. The Eagle has invested in different countries like Saudi Arabia, Turkey, and the UAE. Currently, Khabib is promoting his new mixed martial arts competition, “Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC)“, and has ownership of a sports management agency, a sports gym, and lots of other businesses.
In a recent interview with Russian UFC, the lightweight legend discussed the UFC’s maturity stage. We all know that everything declines over time, and Khabib believes that the UFC has passed the maturity stage and is now in the decline stage.
“Maybe it seems that way to me because the fire inside me went out to some extent, but I think there has been a slight dip in MMA. That’s my perspective. Maybe I’m wrong. I think the flame went out a little and there is a slight decline.”
But the UFC hall of Famers also graciously praised the PR team at UFC. Khabib stated that UFC will never be out of the stars because PR has the ability to promote anyone and make them a star in a short period of time, which will pull UFC back to its peak.
“The UFC PR machine is very powerful. Say what you will, but they have created a very powerful machine in the last 30 years. They’ll ignite the flame.”
