"Father, can you fight like Islam Makhachev?" - When Khabib Nurmagomedov was hilariously humbled by son’s question post-retirement
Khabib Nurmagomedov once told a hilarious story about his son asking him about his close friend and longtime training partner, Islam Makhachev.
In October 2020, Nurmagomedov defeated Justin Gaethje by second-round submission (triangle choke) to end his legendary MMA career with a professional record of 29-0.
'The Eagle' has since stayed involved in the sport through interviews, coaching, and speaking seminars.
Nurmagomedov made an appearance in May 2024 at a Class A event in British Columbia. He revealed this story about his son:
"When I retired, he was only three years old and he don't understand nothing. A couple weeks ago, he asked me, 'Father, can you fight like Islam Makhachev?' I'm like, why you ask? 'Because he's very good fighter. I never see you fight like him.' And I'm like, okay, this is very good question. I told him four years ago, he was only two or three, he was baby when I was fighting. He tried to ask me can I watch your fights, like he just beginning to bother me, and I don't know how I'm going to deal with him."
Watch Nurmagomedov's comments starting at 16:45 below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov talks about Islam Makhachev's future at welterweight
Islam Makhachev has defended his UFC lightweight title four times. The pound-for-pound king has recently voiced his interest in moving up to welterweight and testing himself at a higher weight class.
The only problem for Makhachev is that his training partner, Belal Muhammad, is the UFC welterweight champion.
During an interview with Adam Zubayraev, Khabib Nurmagomedov had this to say about Makhachev moving up to welterweight:
"Islam wants to fight at 170 [pounds], but we can't go up there because Belal is the champion, who is very close to us. We can't exchange our relationships for belts. That's not the way we are. Those who offer us this just don't look at things the way we do, so we have different views in this case. If [Della] Maddalena was the champion, Islam would fight him for sure."
Belal Muhammad is scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Jack Della Maddalena in the UFC 315 main event on May 10.
f Della Maddalena emerges victorious, Islam Makhachev would have a clear path to move up and challenge for the 170-pound throne.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov's comments about Islam Makhachev below: