Legends of the Octagon: Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov was a well-rounded Mixed Martial Arts fighter who has made his name as the greatest lightweight in MMA  and one of the most dominant UFC champions of all time.  His background in the Russian martial art of sambo made him one hell of a grappler! Basically, once you are on the Octagon floor with Khabib, you are sure to lose. The highlight of Khabib’s career is capturing the UFC lightweight championship belt and defending it four times.  His most viewed UFC fight was against Conor McGregor. Actually, UFC 229 was the most viewed fight on Pay-Per-View in UFC history, as there were over 2,400,000 viewers. Likely Khabib’s most challenging opponent was Dustin Poirier. Nurmagomedov retired as the lightweight champion.  His overall MMA record is unblemished at 29-0, and he is the only UFC champion who retired undefeated.

Due to being a devout Muslim and Islam being enmeshed in his life, Khabib never fought on Ramadan. However, he still did train, but always had a lighter training load than usual.  Ramadan is a month of fasting , prayer, and community for practicing Muslims. It’s an important time every nine months for a duration of 30 days.  During the time period of Ramadan, “Muslims abstain from eating and drinking from dawn to dusk, while also trying to avoid gossiping and anger”. Following every fight he has had, Nurmagomedov makes it a point to thank God.

There are many people that know Khabib used to wrestle bears as a child.  His dad had told him, if the bear bites you, then bite him back.  What quite a few do not realize, is that as an adult he came back to visit the bear, who was his longtime “training partner”.

“M-eat by Khabib” is the restaurant franchise chain that Khabib Nurmagomedov owns; it’s located in Russia.  He has seven locations inside Moscow. The food consists of horse meat and beef sandwiches.  While it’s seen as taboo in the United States and in the United Kingdom, horse meat is widely consumed throughout the globe.

Family is the most important part of Khabib’s life. Additionally, he is very private and discreet in regards to his family. Khabib is married to Patimat Nurmagomedov.  Aside from the two being childhood friends, very little is known about Patimat. In addition, it is known that the couple has three children together. While Nurmagomedov was training in Dagestan, his father Abdulmanap, was his coach; he was also a great mentor.  This was actually his greatest influence!

Unfortunately for his fans, Khabib ‘s mother convinced him to retire from fighting at the age of 32.  This was likely due to the passing of his father.  Khabib’s legacy is continued through his family members and trainees who are also excellent mixed martial artists.  Khabib’s cousins who fight include: Bellator lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, rising bantamweight UFC contender Umar Nurmagomedov, as well as the current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev.