Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov turns 34. At this age, you can still make a lot of noise in the octagon, but the star fighter made his choice and left MMA.

However, after the end of his career, the Russian did not disappear anywhere. The ex-UFC champion managed to light up in the football press, acquire his own fighting league and receive the official status of a world sports legend.

“World Class Player”

The victory over Justin Gaethje in October 2020 was the 29th in his career for the legend of mixed martial arts Khabib Nurmagomedov. Before the round mark, only one successful fight remained to be held, but Orel decided for himself that the career of a fighter was over. Since then, the Russian has repeatedly tried to return to the octagon, but no persuasion worked on the former champion. In addition, he found new hobbies for himself.

In the fall of 2021, rumors appeared about the possible continuation of Nurmagomedov’s sports path in football. Orel’s love for this sport is well known: there are many famous football players among his friends, and the fighter himself confessed his sympathy for such teams as Anji and Real. However, there was no talk of Khabib entering the field in an official match at that time.

The news about the negotiations with the Makhachkala Legion-Dynamo was initially perceived by many sports fans as a joke, and not the most successful one. Nevertheless, the president of the Dagestan club, Shamil Lakhiyalov, talking about a possible deal with Khabib, seriously set on fire with the idea of ​​​​letting the debutant on the field in the official match of the Russian Cup against Ufa.

Khabib Nurmagomedov / Photo: © Personal archive of Khabib Nurmagomedov

– The plus is that the team has a world-class player, I think that says it all. By the way, he plays football very well. And I think that the opponent will not come close to him, – Azerisport quoted Lakhiyalov.

However, it was not possible to realize this curious undertaking – unfortunately, the “world-class player” did not appear in Russia. The fighter himself later claimed that football is much better than MMA, and he would definitely become a football player if he was born in England … And now, apparently, he still does not plan to try himself in a new form.

“I want to organize a fight with Fedor”

Since Nurmagomedov was born in Dagestan, and not in Merseyside, mixed martial arts became his destiny – and even after the end of his career, the athlete builds his future inside the MMA sphere. While UFC President Dana White was hoping to persuade Khabib to return to the organization, Khabib managed to become the boss of the promotion himself. In December 2020, the former UFC champion purchased the Gorilla Fighting Championship for $1 million, which he later renamed the Eagle Fighting Championship.

Turning “Gorilla” into “Eagle” on paper is not enough – all the more so there are enough various local promotions both on the planet as a whole and in our country. But so far, Khabib is doing quite well. The authority in MMA allows him to expand the geography of tournaments and attract eminent fighters to his organization. EFC has already been highlighted not only in Russia, but also in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and the USA.

Photo: © Personal archive of Alexander Shlemenko

Under the auspices of Eagle FC, such Russian MMA stars as Alexander Shlemenko and Sergey Kharitonov entered the octagon, former UFC fighters Ray Borg, Diego Sanchez, Kevin Lee fought. Khabib even seriously set out to organize the fight of Fedor Emelianenko, intercepting the Last Emperor from Bellator.

– I want to organize a fight with Fedor. I want to talk to my friend Scott Cocker because Fedor is under contract with Bellator. I don’t know what they are planning, but we could talk about it and create an interesting story,” Khabib said at a press conference before the next EFC tournament.

Khabib can’t be “undone”

With recognition, Nurmagomedov had no particular problems during his fighting career. In addition to directly champion titles, Orel was awarded such special prizes as “Breakthrough of the Year”, “Beating of the Year”, “Return of the Year”. In 2020, Khabib received the prestigious BBC Foreign Athlete of the Year award.

The Russian, thus, managed to stand on a par with Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Usain Bolt and Cristiano Ronaldo. It must be admitted that our compatriots were spoiled by the British infrequently: previously, only athlete Valery Brumel, figure skaters Lyudmila Belousova and Oleg Protopopov, and gymnast Olga Korbut received awards from the BBC.

As for the status of a mixed martial arts legend, Nurmagomedov officially received it in March 2022, when the fighter was included in the UFC Hall of Fame. Dana White decided to take a difficult step during the period of persecution of Russian sports. However, Orel’s merits turned out to be so significant that it was simply impossible to “cancel” him.