Is Khabib Nurmagomedov's hair a wig? Explaining 'The Eagle's' white headgear
Despite parting ways from the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov is still one of the biggest names in MMA today. During his active days as a fighter, 'The Eagle' reigned over the UFC's lightweight division.
Nurmagomedov has a impeccable professional record of 29-0. This includes wins over prominent fighters like Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje. After his fight against 'The Highlight' at UFC 254 in October 2020, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport.
Is Khabib Nurmagomedov's hair a wig?
During his fighting days, Khabib Nurmagomedov used to sport a wooly hat that appeared similar to a wig. The white hat, which is crafted out of sheepskin and wool, is called 'Papakha' and 'The Eagle' used to wear it in order to pay respect to his homeland of Dagestan and its culture.
In September 2019, Nurmagomedov did an interview with Mirror.co.uk where he explained his reasoning for wearing the hat. 'The Eagle' shared how wearing the 'Papakha' at UFC events provided him an opportunity to showcase the Dagestani culture to the world:
"It's an honor for me to represent my traditional headgear around the world, my culture, my history because Dagestan has a very big history, a very big culture. It's an honor for me because I have opportunity. A lot of people know me and I want people to know where I am from and I want to show people Dagestan, Dagestan culture, Dagestan history... If I have the opportunity, why not?... My friends said maybe you want to wear papakha because this is our culture and because UFC is a very big stage and a very big platform. You can show our culture around the world."
Khabib Nurmagomedov responds to Georges St-Pierre's recent comments
UFC legend Georges St-Pierre recently made an appearance on the Pound 4 Pound podcast hosted by Henry Cejudo and Kamaru Usman. At one point during the chat, 'Rush' discussed how a potential fight between him and Khabib Nurmagomedov would have gone down.
St-Pierre claimed he would have gotten the better of the Dagestani if the two ever shared an octagon.
ESPN MMA's Instagram account shared St-Pierre's statement and Nurmagomedov responded to it the comments section:
"I learn from this guy a lot. Even [hearing him] talk about me is so interesting. GSP all day."