{"id":1308502,"date":"2021-01-27T21:59:51","date_gmt":"2021-01-28T02:59:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1308502"},"modified":"2021-01-27T21:59:55","modified_gmt":"2021-01-28T02:59:55","slug":"khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints He's Kicking the UFC To the Curb in Favor of His Real Love"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/ufc-fans-almost-got-a-100-million-fight-between-khabib-nurmagomedov-and-floyd-mayweather\/\">UFC<\/a> lightweight rankings just got a whole lot more interesting, without even factoring in the question of whether champion <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/tag\/khabib-nurmagomedov\/\">Khabib Nurmagomedov<\/a> really has retired. A division in which <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/conor-mcgregor-failed-to-address-his-biggest-weakness-and-it-cost-him-ufc-257-against-dustin-poirier\/\">Conor McGregor<\/a> is no better than the sixth-ranked contender speaks to how intense matchups will be through the remainder of 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All things considered, Nurmagomedov might be walking away from the sport he dominates for the one he loves. It would be 10% of the pain and twice as fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Khabib Nurmagomedov is the best UFC fighter out there<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-youtube wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\nhttps:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=MQcXEWPesAw\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/khabib-nurmagomedov-remains-1-of-the-most-humble-fighters-in-the-ufc\/\">Khabib Nurmagomedov Remains 1 of the Most Humble Fighters in the UFC<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Khabib Nurmagomedov is regarded as the best pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC and one of the greatest mixed martial arts competitors ever. Nurmagomedov earned the UFC lightweight championship in April 2018 with a unanimous decision over Al Iaquinta. He has since successfully defended by registering submissions of Conor McGregor, <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/if-dustin-poirier-and-the-ufc-dont-work-out-hes-got-something-else-in-mind\/\">Dustin Poirier<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/justin-gaethjes-division-1-wrestling-career-completely-changed-his-mma-career\/\">Justin Gaethje<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Poirier stands as the No. 1 contender at the moment, with Poirier right behind him, so the champ has no worlds left to conquer for now. Nurmagomedov is 29-0 for his career. Seven of his 12 UFC triumphs have come via knockouts or submissions. Those are the lucky losers. Going the distance with Nurmagomedov invariably ends in a unanimous decision after lots of pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nurmagomedov\u2019s popularity spans the globe. The first Muslim competitor to win a UFC belt has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/khabib_nurmagomedov\/\">27 million followers on Instagram<\/a> and is always an attractive name atop pay-per-view cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Khabib Nurmagomedov\u2019s retirement has changed the division<\/strong><strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">&quot;The English Premier League is the best in the world.&quot;<br><br>&quot;I like Liverpool, I remember the final vs Milan in 2005!&quot;<br><br>Khabib may be a true student of MMA, but he really knows his football too \u26bd\ufe0f<br><br>Watch the interview in full \u27a1\ufe0f <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/549FjbIusx\">https:\/\/t.co\/549FjbIusx<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/aOMsTJNLUG\">pic.twitter.com\/aOMsTJNLUG<\/a><\/p>&mdash; UFC on TNT Sports (@ufcontnt) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/ufcontnt\/status\/1139261612588711936?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 13, 2019<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/ufc-referee-herb-dean-revealed-khabib-nurmagomedov-trash-talks-the-entire-time-hes-fighting\/\">UFC Referee Herb Dean Revealed Khabib Nurmagomedov Trash Talks the Entire Time He\u2019s Fighting<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UFC continues to recognize Khabib Nurmagomedov as its lightweight champion despite his announcement in October 2020 that he has retired. Nurmagomedov was supposed to defend against <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/ufc-fighter-tony-ferguson-just-slammed-dana-white-for-mishandling-matchups-bro-were-not-friends\/\">Tony Ferguson<\/a> six months earlier, a fight scrapped because he could not leave Russia during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UFC subsequently matched Ferguson against Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title. Gaethje won via a fifth-round TKO that earned him the right to fight Nurmagomedov in a unification bout. Nurmagomedov triumphed via submission in the second round and then immediately announced his retirement from mixed martial arts to honor a promise he had made to his mother to not continue in the sport following the death of his father.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Nurmagomedov is such a huge name that UFC president Dana White will leave the door open to his return. However, there will come a time when the UFC must formally strip Nurmagomedov of his belt. At the moment, the field is so deep that White could legitimately create a year-long, eight-man tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>More practically, he could turn it into a four-man field consisting of Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, Charles Oliveira, and <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/new-ufc-contender-michael-chandlers-life-changed-forever-in-6-minutes\/\">Michael Chandler<\/a>, who made a successful debut at UFC 257 by beating Dan Hooker. That would give the UFC headliners for two pay-per-view cards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Here\u2019s why the UFC needs to be prepared to move on<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed-twitter wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"und\" dir=\"ltr\">Preparing for my football debut \u26bd\ufe0f<br>I\u2019m free agent, and ready to accept offers.<br>\u0413\u043e\u0442\u043e\u0432\u043b\u044e\u0441\u044c \u043a \u0434\u0435\u0431\u044e\u0442\u0443 \u043d\u0430 \u0431\u043e\u043b\u044c\u0448\u043e\u043c \u0444\u0443\u0442\u0431\u043e\u043b\u0435, \u0436\u0434\u0443 \u043f\u0440\u0435\u0434\u043b\u043e\u0436\u0435\u043d\u0438\u044f, \u0431\u0443\u0434\u0435\u043c \u0440\u0430\u0441\u0441\u043c\u0430\u0442\u0440\u0438\u0432\u0430\u0442\u044c. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/V2NlBX5iqD\">https:\/\/t.co\/V2NlBX5iqD<\/a><\/p>&mdash; khabib nurmagomedov (@TeamKhabib) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TeamKhabib\/status\/1353440329656004608?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 24, 2021<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/khabib-nurmagomedov-suffers-devastating-loss-with-tragic-death-of-his-father-and-trainer-abdulmanap-nurmagomedov\/\">Khabib Nurmagomedov\u2019s Dad and Longtime Trainer Suffers Tragic Death After Brutal COVID-19 Battle<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Unlike Jon Jones, Conor McGregor, and probably half a dozen other top-tier UFC fighters who threatened to retire in 2020 \u2013 mostly over contract disputes &#8212; Khabib Nurmagomedov is likely sincere when he says he doesn\u2019t expect to put his 29-0 record on the line. At 32 years old, he still has prime fighting years ahead but also has nothing left to prove \u2013 unless it\u2019s on the soccer field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The UFC lightweight champion was in Abu Dhabi last week for UFC 257. While there, he found a soccer pitch and some competition, including Dutch star Clarence Seedorf, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lowkickmma.com\/khabib-nurmagomedov-shows-off-soccer-skills\/\">Low Kick MMA<\/a>. The Real Madrid fan posted an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/CKcOtYzqdV2\/?igshid=qkxmyp1bmekw\">Instagram video<\/a> of himself running, presumably to train for his second career.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cPreparing for my football debut,\u201d Nurmagomedov wrote on Twitter. \u201cI\u2019m free agent, and ready to accept offers.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Obviously, playing soccer at the highest level isn\u2019t going to happen. Given the chance to play somewhere, however, he\u2019d likely leap at the chance unless the urge to fight returns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Like <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sports7dotcom\/\"><em>Sports7<\/em><\/a><em> on Facebook. Follow us on Twitter <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Sports719\"><em>@sports719<\/em><\/a><em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has retired from the UFC. He has also tweeted that that he's a free agent in soccer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":140,"featured_media":1308506,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10853],"tags":[15049],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v23.0 (Yoast SEO v23.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints He&#039;s Kicking the UFC To the Curb in Favor of His Real Love - Sports7<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has retired from the UFC. He has also tweeted that that he&#039;s a free agent in soccer.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints He's Kicking the UFC To the Curb in Favor of His Real Love\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has retired from the UFC. He has also tweeted that that he&#039;s a free agent in soccer.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sports7\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-01-28T02:59:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-01-28T02:59:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Khabib-Nurmagomedov.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Moriello\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@Sports7J\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Moriello\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/\",\"name\":\"Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints He's Kicking the UFC To the Curb in Favor of His Real Love - Sports7\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/khabib-nurmagomedov-hints-hes-kicking-the-ufc-to-the-curb-in-favor-of-his-real-love\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Khabib-Nurmagomedov.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-01-28T02:59:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-01-28T02:59:55+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sports7.us\/#\/schema\/person\/625c659832a23452683545602e055cac\"},\"description\":\"Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has retired from the UFC. 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John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.\",\"sameAs\":[\"\",\"Sports7J\",\"john-moriello-1a11743\",\"\",\"\"],\"jobTitle\":\"John Moriello | Sports7 Staff Writer, Producer - Motorsports\",\"email\":\"\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Khabib Nurmagomedov Hints He's Kicking the UFC To the Curb in Favor of His Real Love - Sports7","description":"Khabib Nurmagomedov says he has retired from the UFC. 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John is a member of the New York State Basketball Hall of Fame (2013), the President of the New York State Sportswriters Association, and a two-time Best of Gannett winner for print and online collaborations whose work has appeared on FoxSports.com and MaxPreps.com.","sameAs":["","Sports7J","john-moriello-1a11743","",""],"jobTitle":"John Moriello | Sports7 Staff Writer, Producer - Motorsports","email":""}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308502"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/140"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1308502"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1308508,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1308502\/revisions\/1308508"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1308506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1308502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1308502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1308502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}