The Khabib Nurmagomedov fans across the globe were heartbroken when the lightweight king announced his retirement seemingly out of the blue after defeating Justin Gaethje on UFC 254. ‘The Eagle’ continued to stay involved with the combat sports world as a coach, promoter, and cornerman but unfortunately, that seems to be coming to an end.
Recently news broke out that, the Dagestani had announced his retirement from all things MMA on Instagram. Soon other credible sources like MMA and Boxing journalist Chisanga Malata began to report on the matter. Per reports, Nurmagomedov will utilize his new free time to focus on family and business matters.
đ¨JUST INđ¨
Former #UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is reportedly planning to completely leave MMA.
Nurmagomedov has, of course, thrown himself into coaching & Eagle FC since his retirement 2 years ago.
He is expected to focus on his family and businesses, pic.twitter.com/9b40lRUjNX
— Chisanga Malata (@Chisanga_Malata) January 7, 2023
When Khabib left the UFC with his impressive 29-0 record, combat sports enthusiasts across the world almost unanimously felt that the lightweight GOAT had more to give. Potential match-ups against legends like George Saint Pierre were rumored, and unfinished business with Tony Ferguson also remained, but the Russian was adamant.
Throughout the years, Khabib’s camp had been working on future prospects and after the Eagle’s retirement, more and more of them started coming to light. Islam Makhachev finally captured the lightweight title, previously held by his training partner Khabib and Usman Nurmagomedov defeated Patricky ‘Pitbull’ Freire to capture the Bellator Lightweight gold.
The American Kickboxing Academy legend was present during the success of almost all his fellow teammates. He even managed to get his other cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov back on winning tracks and helped Umar Nurmagomedov penetrate the ranks of the stacked Bantamweight division.
Will this be the last we see of Khabib Nurmagomedov?
Upon further analysis, it doesn’t seem like Khabib fans should lose all hope to see the lightweight king. Khabib claims he wants to focus on business and one of his businesses is the ‘Eagle FC’ fighting league. Ultimately he will still need to be around the combat sports world. Also, it is understandable that the global superstar wants to be by his children’s side as they are growing up. But couple of years down the line, we could see the Dagestani back in action.
Whatever Khabib does next, we will be cheering him on in all his positive endeavors.
