Khabib: Return depends on father
Khabib Nurmagomedov: “Whether I fight further or not depends only on God and on the opinion of Father. If he tells me – I’m done, I’m done.”
UFC lightweight Khabib Nurmagomedov famously grew up wrestling with a bear. The real bear in the household however is father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, a truly formidable man.
Khabib has now suffered his third injury in a row. Broken ribs forced him out of his Tony Ferguson at the TUF 22 Finale. The fighter is so disappointed that he is not sure he will fight again. And if he does, it will be with the consent of his father.
“In my life, my father plays a very big role, and I take almost all major decisions only after consulting with the Father,” Khabib wrote on Instagram. “Whether I fight further or not depends only on God and on the opinion of Father.
“If he tells me – I’m done, I’m done. The blessing of your parents is the most important thing.”
The father commented pointedly on social networks about camp problems that he feels led to the injury.
“This injury is a very unpleasant situation,” wrote Abdulmanap on Facebook. “We tried to figure out how to train and avoid injuries, not to disappoint our fans. But we failed. Khabib stopped a takedown while working in sparring when he got injured. We couldn’t force everything.”
“Too much effort was spent on flights here and there, meeting youth, and we also always had many guests at home. This isn’t a proper regime for training.”
“We got the injury one day before flight to USA and 42 days before the fight. We planned to do 2 training camps – 21 days each. Khabib’s weight was 85kg what I think was good regarding the time he had before the fight. One relief for us – is that wasn’t his old injury, not his knee. A broken rib is a very common injury for wrestlers.”
22-0, Khabib is perhaps the brightest prospect in the sport. Hopefully his father’s direction steers him towards the Octagon, injury free.