Following a near flawless back-to-back years of coaching, former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (29-0) has decided to take a step back from MMA and retire from coaching.
The former pound-for-pound king recently posted the following message to his Instagram:
“The year certainly turned out to be a very busy and successful. Take care of yourself brothers. I hope my decision is only for the best, a big hug to you all. Thank you, you were a big reason for my success in sports.”
Nurmagomedov saw two of his students become world champions last year in 2022, as Islam Makhachev (23-1) dominantly took the UFC lightweight championship from Charles Oliveira in October via submission in round two, and Usman Nurmagomedov (16-0) was crowned Bellator lightweight champion with his 50-45 sweep of Patricky Freire a month later in November.
Together, these three talents have a combined record of 68-1, which is just astounding.
Not only is Khabib leaving his coaching position in the past, but he’s the owner of newly formed MMA organization Eagle FC; it’s a wonder what will happen regarding that, as well as who will take over his gym full of prodigies.
Perhaps they’ll stay at AKA and train under Javier Mendez?
The Russian legend participated in his final bout back in October of 2020, where he stopped interim champion Justin Gaethje in round two to make the third successful defense of his UFC lightweight crown, before unexpectedly retiring immediately following the bout.
This has come as a serious shock to most of us, as we cannot imagine it’s what his father would have wanted. But, Nurmagomedov has stated that the reason for him stepping back from combat sports is to spend more time with his family.
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