"You have to sacrifice everything" - Khabib Nurmagomedov's inspirational advice to young fighters
Khabib Nurmagomedov has advised younger fighters looking to make their name in MMA. The former champion retired with an undefeated record of 29-0 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest MMA athletes of all time. In March 2022, it was announced 'The Eagle' would be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in July.
In a raw and honest interview with Brian J. Roberts, Nurmagomedov opened up and provided some inspirational advice that younger fighters should adhere to:
"You have to sacrifice everything. What you have and what you want. You have to sacrifice. You have to stay very focused. Even now I'm here and I've been doing all day media but my cousin is here and he'll fight after one-and-a-half months. And I know that we'll have to wrestle, grapple and do training now. When we finish this interview, I'm going to go backstage. They have mats there and we're going to train together."
Nurmagomedov shared that the smallest things a fighter does can help them become a champion:
"You cannot miss even the very, very small things. Like some people think, 'Oh, I'm traveling so I'm tired, I'll just train tomorrow.' But you have to understand, somewhere around the world, someone is going to train today. To meet with you in a couple of years and he follows the same goal, you know? You have to know, one day he's gonna come and take everything you want. That's why you have to stay focused every single moment."
Khabib Nurmagomedov walked away from the sport in 2020. Three successful title defenses in a row meant the fighter retired at the top of his game.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov's interview with Brian J. Roberts here:
Khabib Nurmagomedov believes protege Islam Makhachev has no flaws in his game
Despite retiring from competing, Nurmagomedov has not walked away from the sport altogether. Now training multiple fighters in MMA and owning the Eagle Fighting Championship promotion, Nurmagomedov believes his friend and protege Islam Makhachev will dominate the sport for years to come.
Speaking to TMZ Sports, 'The Eagle' stated that since his departure from the lightweight division, Islam Makhachev is the most complete fighter in MMA:
"He is the most complete fighter today in MMA. Who is more complete than Islam? Charles Oliveira? He gets knocked down twice in every fight. Volkanovski? He doesn't wrestle or grapple like Islam. Adesanya? They all have their ways. But Islam has every way. Striking, punching, ground-and-pound, kicking, knees, clinch, grappling, everything."
Makhachev is on a 10-fight win streak and both he and Khabib Nurmagomedov believe he should be next in line to face Charles Oliveira for the vacant lightweight title. 'Do Bronx' is also on an impressive win streak of 11 fights.
@danawhite you have no other choice but make Oliveira vs Islam fight in AbuDhabi 22 October.
Perfect date, Perfect location,Perfect opponents with perfect winning streaks 10 vs 11.
@MAKHACHEVMMA @ufc
There has been no official confirmation on who Charles Oliveira will face for the title yet. Dana White confirmed that 'do Bronx' was the No.1 contender after he defeated Justin Gaethje at UFC 274.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov discuss Islam Makhachev with TMZ Sports here: