Khabib Nurmagomedov is training twice a day in camp, says manager
A month ago a Russian outlet broke the news that Abdulmanap, father of Khabib Nurmagomedov, had been diagnosed with a serious illness and was hospitalized. The situation prompted Khabib Nurmagomedov to come out on social media and request fans to follow all the protocols. Khabib Nurmagomedov and the other members of the MMA world also helped in pointing out the fundamental problems that Dagestan was facing while dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic.
At one point UFC fighter Muslim Salikhov said, "Believe me, there are a lot more infected people. All cities have closed. And Khasavyurt, and Makhachkala, and Kizilyurt, and Buinaksk. We need to do something, a lot of sick people. Local authorities are making efforts, but there are still a lot of patients. Entire villages get sick."
Khabib Nurmagomedov ready for the Justin Gaethje fight
However, that hasn't stopped the UFC from booking a match for Khabib Nurmagomedov. Now his manager revealed that Khabib Nurmagomedov was ready and his father was recovering. In a conversation with ESPN Ali Abdelaziz said,
"Khabib ( Nurmagomedov ) is very strong, his family is very strong and his father is very strong. He's improving. He opened his eyes, responding a little bit -- good sign. Allah is in control. We have faith he will be better, but at the end of the day, it's completely up to his health whether it progresses or not. But he's progressing, and we're very happy about this."
He also added that Khabib Nurmagomedov was training every day. He informed that his father recovering has actually motivated him more and is at this point training twice a day.
"I think Khabib's father being sick has motivated him more. He's training every day, two times a day. He's in camp already. Me and him were talking and I said, 'Hey, get your mind off, do what you need to do.' He's always training. He's a true mixed martial artist. Same with Gaethje. They are both great guys and they want to fight. It's a dream fight."
Ali also spoke about a potential Conor McGregor rematch and said that Khabib Nurmagomedov was not interested. He said,
"But if Justin wins, Justin might fight him. If Khabib wins, he better go down to 145 pounds ... For Khabib to fight Conor again -- Khabib has 'f--- you money.' He doesn't need another $20 [million] to $30 million. I can't convince him to fight Conor. Honestly, right now, I don't think Khabib will give Conor a chance. He's different, man. It's principle first, then after that, it becomes money. This guy (McGregor) talked about his father, mother, wife -- you want to give this piece of s--- another opportunity to do that again? Who would?"