In 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov decides to retire. He marked the farewell date of the professional MMA arena by winning against Justin Gaethje. It is reported that UFC once asked Khabib to return, but everything was only recently revealed by the former Lightweight Championship.
Talking with Daniel Cormier before UFC 295, Khabib said he retired because he wanted to spend more time with his family. 2020 is the year when Khabib's father suddenly died early. He promised his mother to take a break to take care of his family more, and this boxer did not want himself to become a promise.
“I broke up with the UFC arena at the peak of my form. Money, reputation and the victories came to me as a matter of course. It is difficult to deceive everything to the side to go home. Imagine how difficult I go through when refusing suggestions cost $ 20, $ 40 million,” Khabib said.
In case of a contracting back to play after retirement, Khabib can become the highest martial artist in UFC. However, he said he did not regret it because he had ignored the lucrative suggestions in the past. The former UFC champion also wants to minimize martial arts activities.
At the end of 2022, shortly after direct training of Islam Makhachev won the UFC championship, Khabib announced the withdrawal from the MMA world. He said that even after retiring and moving to coach, the time when Khabib could stay at home still very little. Therefore, he decided to completely withdraw.
“I no longer play, nor trained and completely withdrew,” Khabib wrote on his personal Instagram page. He added: “I hope everyone will stop asking me why I no longer play or train anymore. Let me become a part of the past.”