Khabib Nurmagomedov opens up for the first time since the death of his father.
Sadly, Abdulmanap died from complications due to the coronavirus last month. Not surprisingly, this was a deeply affecting loss to the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion as Abdulmanap wasn’t just Khabib’s father, he was his best friend and training partner.
Since then, it’s been confirmed that the Russia native will make his return to fight Justin Gaethje in October. In a recent press conference, Khabib admits that training without his father does affect him as he thinks about him all of the time (Transcript courtesy of MMA Fighting):
“Some people have strictly a father-son relationship, but my father was very close to me. We were like friends. He was my father and coach, we were always together. We were very close. Of course I’m sad. If I tell you with a straight face that it doesn’t affect my training, that’d be a lie. It does affect me, I think about him all the time. Maybe this pain will put me on another level and make me stronger. Any challenge either breaks you or makes you stronger. We’ll see what it does to me in time.”
Khabib’s manger, Ali Abdelaziz, stated that Khabib’s career is almost coming to a close. Originally, the 31-year-old was planning to walk away from the sport once he hits 30 – 0. Right now, Khabib is at 28 wins, and should he beat Justin Gaethje in October, then it will 29 – 0. That would mean that the 155-pound champion only has one fight to go, and while Khabib doesn’t confirm that he’ll walk away from the sport if he does reach 30 wins, he does make it clear that his career is winding down soon:
“As far as retirement, I’ve been having lots of different thoughts,” Khabib said. “Right now I’m thinking of my next fight. We’ll see what happens next. Right now I’m 31, I’ll be 32 in September. That’s a significant age. I’m no longer a rookie. Looking back at how much time I’ve invested in the sport, it’s fair to say I’m a veteran. I’ve been a professional fighter for 12 years, since 2008. I’ve been in the UFC more than eight years. If you look back, I’ve had an excellent career.
“Right now I’m motivated to come back, to fight, to keep busy, and I think the best place to do is where I am considered a professional. Then we’ll see what’s next. This whole year I’ve dedicated to training, my regimen - morning and evening training, diet, all of this helps distract me from everything that’s happening around me.”
UFC 254 will take place on Saturday, Oct. 24 with the lightweight title bout expected to headline the pay-per-view.