After the grand fight between Tyson Fury and Dillian Whyte, they started talking with renewed vigor about the superiority of professional boxing over mixed martial arts as a show. Right now, the UFC simply has nothing to answer for the madness that was happening at Wembley.

Surely the head of the top MMA promotion, Dana White, does not cease to regret the departure of Khabib Nurmagomedov from the organization. Each fight of the Eagle aroused unprecedented interest and raised the mixed martial arts industry to an even higher level.

Khabib was able to surprise everyone in his last fight. He had never been so close to defeat.

First fight after father’s death

Khabib regularly entered the octagon in the last years of his career, but Nurmagomedov’s fans had to wait more than a year for the 29th fight. He was originally supposed to fight Tony Ferguson in May 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic and closed borders, this fight was canceled.

The Russian athlete reached the UFC octagon only in October. By this time, Justin Gati became Nurmagomedov’s rival, who defeated Ferguson in a face-to-face confrontation.

Preparation for the battle of our fighter turned out to be crumpled. In the summer, Khabib’s father Abdulmanap, who inspired him throughout his career, died. But Nurmagomedov’s motivation for this fight could not be overestimated. He entered the octagon with the utmost concentration.

Khabib Nurmagomedov / Photo: © Josh Hedges / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.ru

Everything didn’t go according to plan

The opponents spent almost the entire first round standing. Justin tried to keep Nurmagomedov at a distance, often throwing low kicks. Khabib answered him in the same way and was looking for opportunities for rapprochement and transfer to the ground. Also, opponents periodically exchanged heavy blows. Gaethje was more successful in exchanges. He hit Khabib’s head well several times, but these attacks did not cause serious damage to the Russian.

The last two minutes passed at the initiative of Nurmagomedov. Justin literally ran from our fighter along the octagon, occasionally counterattacking. The American diligently avoided the opponent’s attempt to transfer the fight to the ground. But shortly before the siren, Khabib made a successful pass to the legs and knocked the American to the canvas. However, Nurmagomedov’s attempt to hold a submission arm 40 seconds before the siren was unsuccessful. Justin’s submission to the painful one looked much more dangerous. It seemed that he was very close to making the star opponent give up, but Khabib was able to get out of the situation with experience.

And yet, according to the results of the five-minute period, two of the three judges gave the victory in the round to the American fighter. In the entire history of performances in the UFC with Nurmagomedov, this happened only the second time. Before that, he once lost in the round only to McGregor.

Judge’s mistake cost American dearly

The ideal wrestling technique of Nurmagomedov was well known to all opponents of the fighter, but it was she who brought him the most victories in the octagon. Painful and suffocating techniques have become a sentence for many athletes in the octagon. It was not possible to avoid this fate and Gati.

The fighters spent the first minute of the second round in a standing position, but after Khabib’s successful pass to the legs, the showdown continued on the ground. It took Nurmagomedov 30 seconds to finish everything. Justin allowed the Russian to hold the choke through the triangle with his feet.

Gati, who before the fight promised not to give up in any case, with his last strength pounded his palm on the back of the Russian, but the judge missed this moment. As a result, Khabib strangled the American until he lost consciousness, and only then the fight was stopped.

Khabib Nurmagomedov / Photo: © Josh Hedges / Contributor / UFC / Gettyimages.ru

Khabib cried and announced his departure

This victory was the 29th for Khabib, but definitely the most emotional. He fell to his knees, covered his face with his hands, and wept. Even the loser Gaethje, having recovered a little, approached our fighter to support him. After that, Khabib got to his feet, but emotions continued to overwhelm him until the very announcement of the winner, even the encouragement and congratulations of his team did not help.

Khabib Nurmagomedov / Photo: © Handout / Handout / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

This brilliant victory was the last for Nurmagomedov in the octagon. Right in the cage, he announced that, at the request of his mother, he would no longer fight. And now, for a year and a half, he has kept his word. And if Khabib is doing great after the end of his career, then you can’t say the same about the UFC. There is simply no fighter in the promotion whose fights can cause such a resonance.