Over the weekend, Khabib Nurmagomedov and UFC President Dana White officially announced that Khabib was no longer the owner of the Lightweight UFC championship, closed almost all the possibilities of “Russian Eagle” back to the ring as a boxer.
However, the actual farewell farewell has been spoken by Khabib Nurmagomedov for a long time ago. Since last year, Khabib said that he promised his mother to leave the battlefield after the battle to protect the belt with Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The Khabib family experienced a heartbreaking time when his father and teacher, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, from the summer of 2020 due to complications of Codid-19.
“Giving up the ring is not an easy decision,” Khabib shared at the UFC Vegas 22 interview.
“I know, maybe not everyone will have the same perspective as me or can sympathize with me. But I hope that everyone will support this decision. Because my mother, I decided to stop playing. I always feel that after every match, every training, my mother gets older.
The story with her mother, even the biggest reason, is only part of the decision to leave Khabib's stage. Khabib Nurmagomedov said that he was “very happy” when he owned the greatest glory in the history of MMA sports. Now, in front of him is only super battles for money – something Khabib feels not too necessary.
“I came to MMA to prove who I was, to confirm that I was the best boxer. Now I am the champion, I topped the rankings of the boxers in every weight class, I protected the belt 3 times, I won the biggest match in UFC history. After that?