Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov stepped away from competition when he was at the top of his game – and now he signals he might do the same after an elite year of coaching.
Following multiple reports from Russian news outlets, Nurmagomedov on Saturday shared a post from Za Khabiba, a Nurmagomedov-centric Instagram page, which displayed a picture of the UFC Hall of Famer with the following caption (translated from Russian to English).
“Khabib is leaving the MMA industry. It’s about coaching and everything else related to MMA. The reason is Khabib’s desire to devote more time to his family.”
While Nurmagomedov, 34, did not directly say he would step away from coaching altogether, he cryptically alluded to a “decision” he recently made pertinent to his team in an Instagram post Thursday.
“Concluding the year,” Nurmagomedov wrote in Russian. “Take care brothers. The year certainly turned out to be a very busy and successful. 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.”
Pro MMA fighter Shamil Zavurov, one of Nurmagomedov’s closest friends and confidants, also alluded to Nurmagomedov’s step back in an Instagram post Saturday.
“He’s left this sport, but the sport spirit will never leave him,” Zavurov wrote. “That was good training.”
Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in October 2020 with a perfect record of 29-0 record. He went straight into coaching his training partners and teammates at American Kickboxing Academy.
Alongside AKA head coach Javier Mendez, Nurmagomedov was named MMA Junkie’s 2022 Coach of the Year after his pupils compiled a 19-2 record in major organizations. That included Islam Makhachev’s UFC title victory and Usman Nurmagomedov’s Bellator title victory.
Makhachev has his upcoming first title defense on Feb. 11 at UFC 284 in Perth, Australia, where he’ll take on featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. It’s unclear if Nurmagomedov will be in Makhachev’s corner.
