Khabib Nurmagomedov's manager Ali Abdelaziz comments on his USADA testing record
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s accolades in the Octagon are sure to put him in the UFC Hall of Fame in the near future but it’s his lifestyle outside the cage that has made him a worldwide cultural icon.
Khabib’s longtime manager and close personal friend Ali Abdelaziz recently tweeted about a lesser-known achievement of the Dagestani fighter. Khabib Nurmagomedov has now submitted 47 samples to the USADA database without a single one even remotely being tainted.
Former light heavyweight champion Jon Jones leads the list with 62 submissions followed by featherweight great Jose Aldo at 60.
While Jones, a fellow front-runner in the GOAT debate, has been flagged for positive tests in the past, Khabib Nurmagomedov has remained clean and disciplined throughout.
Perhaps the only lapses in discipline Khabib has ever been guilty of were on the two occasions when he missed weight, including once when he was admitted in the hospital after a failed weight cut for a Tony Ferguson fight.
As luck would have it, the fight was rescheduled to be held on numerous other occasions, with none of them ever panning out. It perhaps will remain one of the fights the MMA community always wanted to witness, but never will.
Not just a manager, Abdelaziz has been a longtime fan and supporter of Khabib as well backing him up many times on social media.
Incidentally, Khabib’s longtime teammate and training partner at AKA, former two-division champion Daniel Cormier, was given a special commendation earlier in the year for passing 50 USADA tests.
Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement at UFC 254
Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his title for the third time at UFC 254 against Justin Gaethje, who many believed was going to be his biggest test to date.
Khabib, however, finished the bout via submission in the second round.
‘The Eagle’ then shocked the MMA community by announcing his retirement from MMA, stating that he had made a promise to his mother that he will not fight again without his father being in his corner.
Khabib had lost his father and lifelong coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov earlier in the year in July due to COVD 19.
However, UFC President Dana White is confident that Khabib Nurmagomedov will return for one final fight to extend his unbeaten MMA record to 30-0.