Khabib Nurmagomedov may be retired, but he’s far from inactive. He’s bought a soccer league, started his own MMA promotion, and is coaching his own stable of fighters, including Islam Makhachev. Khabib somehow finds time to promote himself and his fighters in interviews, and named himself above Jon Jones and all other comers in the pound-for-pound rankings.
Speaking with ESPN, Khabib detailed why he believes he’s still at the top of the pile. “For me it’s like, 30-0, 29-0, or 15-0, it’s nothing. I fight and I showed the world.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is the #1 pound for pound fighter, according to Khabib Nurmagomedov
And from nowhere, I came here and took all of everything. At that moment, I was the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter. This, nobody can say nothing.”
Khabib is widely considered by fight fans to be one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, if not the greatest. Nurmagomedov maintained a near-impossible 29-0 record, never losing a fight throughout his career. It’s widely believed that Khabib has never even lost a round, even in the wildly subjective world of MMA scoring.
Khabib explained his position on the matter. According to him, his wide margins of victory dwarf the close fights others went through. Usman and Jon Jones have both come within grabbing distance of defeat in their careers, and faced defeats themselves. Khabib does not believe he was faced with anyone close to his ability, and that’s without the doping scandal that plagued Jon Jones’ career:
“It was not Kamaru Usman, it was not Jon Jones, who fights very close fights with all these light heavyweights like Ovince Saint Preux, like Thiago, Anthony Smith, Dominick Reyes.
These guys, [Jones] showed versus them very bad performances, and everything that happened with doping.
But what about me? I was mauling everybody.”
Khabib retired with a 29-0 record after thoroughly demolishing Justin Gaethje. His father and trainer, Abdulmanap, had recently passed away, and Khabib’s mother made him promise not to fight without his father at his side. Khabib’s father stated a 30-0 record as the goal for his world-beating son, but without Abdulmanap, Khabib himself has seemingly tired from competition. Even the likes of Georges St-Pierre and a payday rematch against Conor McGregor couldn’t tempt Khabib back into the Octagon.
Khabib’s parting words illuminated his position, somehow remaining humble while declaring his greatness:
“And at that moment, the 24th of October, 2020, I was on the top. After that, whatever happened, I don’t care. I don’t want to push my name or call me the greatest of all-time.
No, I am one of the greatest of all-time.”
Do you agree with Khabib’s assessment? Was he, at that moment, the greatest fighter alive? Let us know in the comments.
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