Khabib Nurmagomedov may retire before UFC 311

Trent Reinsmith

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Trent Reinsmith es un escritor radicado en Baltimore que cubre MMA y hockey.

ABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - OCTOBER 22: Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts after his teammate Islam

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has transitioned from being one of the most successful fighters in MMA history to one of the top coaches in the sport. On Saturday, Nurmagomedov will be cageside for the co-main event and main event of the UFC 311 fight card as he looks to help Umar Nurmagomedov to a UFC bantamweight championship and guide Islam Makhachev to a successful defense of his UFC lightweight title. Despite his success as a coach, Nurmagomedov does not seem to relish the job, and he doesn’t plan on doing that job for much longer.

“When these guys finish, I’m going to finish,” Nurmagomedov told ESPN about his coaching career. “I hope it’s going to be very fast because I’m tired of all this. We were way on top of this game the last eight years, seven years since I become champion and you can even watch the team record. We almost don’t lose and I’m talking about 25 fighters, 25 professional fighters. We fight, we almost don’t lose, everybody fights around the world everywhere. Japan, Middle East, Europe, U.S., South America. We’re fighting in everywhere in this world, and we almost don’t lose.

“We have so many belts, we have so many champions, in so many different organizations, and all about because of sacrifice. All these guys they were with me, they were with my father when I was beginning. When I finish, a couple of guys with me already finished, there are like six, seven, eight on a very high level, they’re still there. When they finish, I’m going to finish, too.”