“I’m tired…” Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals timeline for retirement from coaching
Former UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov expresses brutal honesty, reveals timeline to end coaching stint ahead of UFC 311 PPV.
Follow Us
Khabib Nurmagomedov inching closer to retiring from coaching after UFC 311 (Source: IMAGO/X)
Khabib Nurmagomedov is in the final stretch of his training career ahead of [arguably] the busiest night for him at UFC 311. “The Eagle” has a double assignment, cornering the co-main and PPV (pay-per-view) main event at the Intuit Dome on the 18th. However, Khabib says he won’t be doing this here in the long run.
The UFC HOF’er has transitioned into one of the top coaches in UFC/MMA. All of his understudies have had immensely good runs. Khabib, his cousins Umar and Usman, additionally with Islam Makhachev have a combined 91-1 pro record. The lone defeat of the team tree was the UFC 155-pound champ to Adriano Martins at UFC 192. Having said that, UFC 311 could be his final run as a coach, helping stretch those stats.
When the guys finish, I’m going to finish. I hope it’s going to be very fast, I’m tired of all this, …We’ve been on top of this game for like 7-8 years, since I became champion. All these guys were with me, they were with my father when I was starting. There are still 6-8 [fighters] at very high level. When they finish, I will finish too…
Khabib Nurmagomedov to ESPN’s Brett Okamoto in UFC 311 pre-fight media check-in
Nurmagomedov hung up his mitt following a successful lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The fight won him a Best Submission ESPY along with the lifetime accolades he already touts. It came just months after Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, passed away; hence, he called it emotionally taxing and quit.
👏⚡️Khabib said he will stop coaching after all his teammates retire:
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) January 13, 2025
“We’ve been on top of this game for like 7-8 years, since I became a champion. All these guys were with me, they were with my father when I was starting. There are still 6-8 [fighters competing] at a very… pic.twitter.com/N0AMiHmfbm
“Eagle” has cornered friends and family before as well, in successful coaching stints. He also cornered now champion Belal Muhammad for his TKO win over Sean Brady at UFC 280. Now, Makhachev’s fourth consecutive defense and bantamweight No. 1 seed, cousin Umar Nurmagomedov, are the last legs of his mission. If they complete their missions, he might be done with his after UFC 311. But that’s a bridge for the future Khabib to cross.
Khabib didn’t tell his own coach about plane removal incident
Why Khabib of all people, one might ask? The Dominant Dagestani remains the headline even away from the sport. Sometimes it’s about sharing technical tidbits with Olympic wrestler Henry Cejudo or other industry greats. Sometimes it’s about revisiting the rival “Notorious” Conor McGregor route. Just like last week, Nurmagomedov made headlines, trailing Irish MMA as below par compared to Dagestani.
This week again, the former fighter and current coach made headlines in a flight en route to Saturday’s UFC 311 PPV at the Intuit Dome, Inglewood. A Frontier Airlines flight turfed Khabib from the emergency aisle seat for alleged miscommunication and then even deplaned him!
Manager Ali Abdelaziz, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), and a lot of others came in his support. But as it turns out, Javier Mendez, top boss of the American Kickboxing Academy, did not know about it until it went viral.
I don’t know, he didn’t say nothing to me, I didn’t hear nothing, …They didn’t say anything to me, they’re very quiet about it so I’d imagine Khabib didn’t think much of it – But the whole world is thinking a lot of it because they racially profiled him one million per cent. There’s no way you can tell me you can’t look at that video, see what they’re saying, he was asking the correct questions!
Javier Mendez to Denis Shkuratov for the ‘Submission Radio’ Show for SBNation Network (🎥: @SubmissionRadio on YT)
The renowned coach believes the incident happened last week when his charges returned from a ski trip to Utah. But because he wanted to keep any negativity out of the camp, he never even told his coach. Mendez believes this was a clear-cut case of profiling, even though the airlines interjected and said otherwise. As such, this matter will remain viral for a while.
Related: Khabib Nurmagomedov releases statement on viral airplane removal: “What was the base for that…?”
Stay Updated!
Dibaas.M
(1280 Articles Published)