Khabib Nurmagomedov is considered one of the greatest Mixed Martial Arts fighters of all time. He has 29 fights under his belt and has won them all. That is a record that not any other MMA fighter has at the moment. Khabib’s rise to fame was the fight against Michael Johnson. Afterwhich he called out Conor McGregor.
In perhaps the biggest fight of his career, The Dagestani fighter submitted arguably the most popular fighter that this sport or any other sport has ever seen. UFC 229 was the magnum opus of Khabib’s career. He beat Conor McGregor via RNC (Rear Naked Choke) in the 4th round. After the match, he jumped the cage and lunged at Dillon Danis and the nature of the brawl following the event propelled the 33-year old into superstardom.
Nurmagomedov was just as famous for his kindness and politeness outside the octagon. He famously refused to celebrate his victory against Justin Gaethje as Justin’s parents were in the crowd. Following his fight against Dustin Poirier, Khabib auctioned a bunch of his fight gear to raise money for Poirier’s charity.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, who is known as ‘The Eagle’, has retired from MMA after UFC 254. The fans got to see the cocky side of the fighter since then and that has irked the head coach of City Kick Boxing. Eugene Bareman is the head coach of fighters such as Israel Adesanya and Dan Hooker. In an interview with ‘Submission Radio‘, Eugene explained why he is losing his adoration for the former UFC Lightweight Champion.
‘The Game Has Got to Khabib Nurmagomedov’- Eugene Bareman
During the interview, Eugene clarified that he had a tremendous amount of respect for Khabib. Bareman confessed that he was a fan of Khabib’s approach to the game. He said, “The thing that I used to respect about them, the guys like Khabib was that they were purists. All they did was fight. Don’t worry about the media, just get on with your job, fight. They come from very humble beginnings. They are not very materialistic. When they make a lot of money, they keep training, they show up, they grind.”
Khabib was recently involved in an online spat with Justin Gaethje. Gaethje was Nurmagomedov’s last opponent. However, Justin has turned himself around since then. He defeated Michael Chandler in a 3 round epic war. Following that, the former interim lightweight champion called for a title shot. That did not sit well with Khabib as he stated Islam Makhachev was the deserving candidate.
Khabib had some thoughts on Gaethje saying he deserved a shot at the lightweight title next ????
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 12, 2021
(via @TeamKhabib) pic.twitter.com/bjTNK8XNXS
Eugene Bareman pointed that out and said, “The game, the game has got to them as well. Khabib talks more sh*t about other fighters than anybody. I’m disappointed to see that because for me this guy is still a purist. That’s (being cocky) not a part of his DNA. But now you see him slagging off fighters and Makhachev does the same. That never used to be part of their culture in the sport.” He further added, “I still respect them but I liked the way they used to be before they got all Hollywood.”
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