"I sacrifice everything what I have" - Khabib Nurmagomedov opens up on the dedication that led him to becoming UFC lightweight champion
Khabib Nurmagomedov gained a reputation over his UFC career for being one of the hardest working fighters on the roster, and in a new interview he detailed just how committed he was to being a world champion.
Nurmagomedov has been training in combat sports his entire life. There's even footage of him as a 9-year old child wrestling a bear. His father was the greatest coach in Dagestan, and instilled a work ethic and commitment in his son that 'The Eagle' agreed was an obsession.
Speaking to Ron Berger on the Eagle FC YouTube channel, Nurmagomedov explained how a fear of being unprepared kept him pushing forward.
"This gave me best motivation, when I was thinking 'I'm going to lose.' Because when I have opponent I always think okay what is good? His grappling? Okay I have to work on grappling. His striking, I have to work on striking. I have to work on defense. All my day I was thinking about what would happen inside the cage. And of course I was training very hard."
Khabib is wired different.
UFC lightweight champ training in a freezing river in Dagestan, Russia.
(via kingfarruh/IG) https://t.co/Dqmz8DIaf8
"I remember I was running morning, go home rest. I come, I train at night time. I go home and I was like no, it's not enough, two time. I have to go one more time. And sometimes until 12, 11PM, sometime I was going to training, I train three times a day, come home, I have five or six hours to rest because seven in the morning is going to come new training. It was my life. I sacrifice everything what I have. I will sleep, train, eat, repeat, and that's it."
Watch the full interview with Khabib Nurmagomedov below:
With so much time and energy devoted to achieving his goals, it's no surprise that Nurmagomedov looked relieved when he announced his retirement in the octagon at UFC 254. That was a year and a half ago, and while Khabib Nurmagomedov continues to dominate his teammates in the gym, he's still adamant that he is done fighting.
🏾True to the sport, true to his family and true and loyal to his friends. Khabib is staying retired and it's safe to say we'll all miss him. His fights and the way he carried himself. 🙏🏾
#UFC #mma #martialarts #Fights #Respect #loyal #honor https://t.co/GEce4IVehw
Daniel Cormier would love to see Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson annoy each other on The Ultimate Fighter
While Khabib Nurmagomedov refuses to fight again, he did recently offer to coach The Ultimate Fighter opposite Tony Ferguson. It was a somewhat surprising suggestion from a man who has never seemed particularly interested in the spotlight. But perhaps he considers it a good way to further promote his growing Eagle FC fight promotion.
One person who's all in on the idea is Nurmagomedov's former teammate Daniel Cormier. He said:
"I think it'll be good TV because every time Khabib had to operate around Tony Ferguson it was an absolute pleasure to watch, it was so fun and funny. Because he annoys him. Tony Ferguson annoys him and annoys him bad. So I'd love to see him annoy Khabib over the course of six weeks on national television. It'd be absolutely tremendous."
Watch Daniel Cormier discuss Khabib Nurmagomedov and Tony Ferguson coaching The Ultimate Fighter below: