Khabib Nurmagomedov
Khabib Nurmagomedov was born in Sildi, Russia on September 20th, 1988 and is the MMA Fighter. At the age of 35, Khabib Nurmagomedov biography, profession, age, height, weight, eye color, hair color, build, measurements, education, career, dating/affair, family, news updates, and networth are available.
At 35 years old, Khabib Nurmagomedov has this physical status:
Nurmagomedov made his professional MMA debut in September 2008 and compiled four wins in under a month. On 11 October, he became the inaugural Atrium Cup tournament champion, having defeated his three opponents at the Moscow event. Over the next three years, he went undefeated, finishing 11 out of 12 opponents. These included a first-round armbar finish of future Bellator title challenger Shahbulat Shamhalaev, which marked his M-1 Global debut. In 2011, he competed in seven fights for the ProFC promotion, all of which he won by TKO or submission.
A 16–0 record in the regional circuits of Russia and Ukraine generated interest from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in signing Nurmagomedov. Later, Nurmagomedov's father revealed in an interview that due to a contract dispute with ProFC they had 11 court cases contesting the legitimacy of Nurmagomedov's UFC contract. After losing six and winning five cases, they reached an agreement and Khabib was able to continue his career.
In late 2011, Nurmagomedov signed a six-fight deal to compete in the UFC's lightweight division.
In his UFC debut, on 20 January 2012 at UFC on FX 1, Nurmagomedov defeated Kamal Shalorus via submission in the third round.
Nurmagomedov next defeated Gleison Tibau on 7 July 2012 at UFC 148 via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27.
Nurmagomedov's next fight was against Thiago Tavares on 19 January 2013 at UFC on FX 7. He won via KO in the first round. After the fight, Tavares tested positive for Drostanolone, an anabolic steroid, and received a 9-month suspension.
Nurmagomedov defeated Abel Trujillo on 25 May 2013 at UFC 160 via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27. At the weigh-ins, Nurmagomedov came in over the permitted limit, weighing in at 158.5 lb. He was given two hours to cut to the lightweight maximum of 156 pounds but elected instead to surrender a percentage of his fight purse to Trujillo and the bout was contested at a catchweight. In the course of the fight, Nurmagomedov set a new UFC record for the most takedowns in a single fight, with 21 successful takedowns out of 28 attempts.
In his fifth UFC fight, on 21 September 2013 at UFC 165, Nurmagomedov faced Pat Healy. He dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27. Attending his first post-event press conference, UFC president Dana White praised the relative newcomer stating, "That slam, when he just scoops him up and slams him, Matt Hughes style. That reminded me of the old Matt Hughes where he would run a guy across the Octagon and slam him. The kid is exciting. We’re probably going to do big things with this kid."
In December, Nurmagomedov challenged Gilbert Melendez on social media, with the two then expected to face off at UFC 170 on 22 February 2014. However, the bout was cancelled for undisclosed reasons, and Melendez was replaced by Nate Diaz. However, the match-up was cancelled as Diaz turned the bout down. Nurmagomedov expressed his disappointment, appearing on The MMA Hour, "If they say that they're willing to fight the best, they should fight the best. If they want, I'll take them both at once in the cage."
Nurmagomedov next faced former UFC Lightweight Champion Rafael dos Anjos on 19 April 2014 at UFC on Fox 11. He dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27.
Nurmagomedov was briefly linked to a bout with Donald Cerrone on 27 September 2014 at UFC 178. However, the pairing was quickly scrapped after it was revealed that Nurmagomedov had suffered a knee injury. He was later expected to face Cerrone on 23 May 2015, at UFC 187. However, Nurmagomedov pulled out of the bout on 30 April due to a recurring knee injury and was replaced by John Makdessi.
Nurmagomedov was expected to face Tony Ferguson on 11 December 2015 at The Ultimate Fighter 22 Finale. However, Nurmagomedov pulled out of the fight in late October, citing another injury, and was replaced by Edson Barboza.
The bout with Ferguson was rescheduled for 16 April 2016 at UFC on Fox 19. However, on 5 April, Ferguson pulled out of the bout due to a lung issue. Ferguson was replaced by promotional newcomer Darrell Horcher at a catchweight of 160 lb. Nurmagomedov won the one-sided fight by TKO in the second round.
In September, Nurmagomedov signed two contracts for a title shot against the reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, Eddie Alvarez, on either the UFC 205 or the UFC 206 fight card, with Dana White confirming the bout for UFC 205. However, on 26 September, the UFC announced that Alvarez would instead be defending the title against Conor McGregor. Nurmagomedov voiced his displeasure on social media, calling Alvarez a "bullshit champ" for refusing the fight and opting for a bout with McGregor instead, accusing the UFC of being a "freak show".
In lieu of a title shot, Nurmagomedov next faced Michael Johnson on 12 November 2016 at UFC 205. Nurmagomedov dominated the fight and was heard telling Dana White to give him a title shot as he mauled Johnson, winning via submission in the third round.
The bout with Ferguson was scheduled for a third time at UFC 209 on 4 March 2017 for the interim Lightweight Championship. Nurmagomedov, however, fell ill because of a botched weight cut, and the bout was cancelled as a result.
Nurmagomedov faced Edson Barboza on 30 December 2017 at UFC 219. Nurmagomedov dominated all three rounds, taking Barboza down repeatedly and dominating the fight with ground and pound. He won the fight by unanimous decision, with scores of 30-25, 30-25 and 30-24. This win also earned him his first Performance of the Night bonus.
A bout with Ferguson had been scheduled for the fourth time and was expected to take place on 7 April 2018 at UFC 223. However, on 1 April 2018, it was reported that Ferguson had injured his knee and was to be replaced by Max Holloway. On 6 April, Holloway was pulled from the fight after the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) declared him unfit to compete due to extreme weight cutting, and replaced by Al Iaquinta. Iaquinta's inclusion in the fight was controversial: the UFC's first choice to replace Holloway, Anthony Pettis, weighed in 0.2 pounds over the championship limit of 155 pounds and did not choose to re-weigh, and its second choice, Paul Felder, was rejected by NYSAC because he was not in the UFC's rankings at the time of the fight. Only Nurmagomedov was eligible to win the championship, as Iaquinta also weighed in 0.2 pounds over the championship weight limit. Nurmagomedov dominated the fight and won via unanimous decision, with scores of 50-44, 50-43 and 50-43, and became the UFC Lightweight Champion.
On Friday, 3 August 2018, the UFC announced that Nurmagomedov would make his first defence of his lightweight title against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on October 6 in Las Vegas. In the fight, Nurmagomedov won the first two rounds, but lost to McGregor in the third round. It was the first time Nurmagomedov lost a round in his UFC career. He managed to defeat McGregor in the fourth round via submission. After the contest, Nurmagomedov scaled the Octagon and tried to attack McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis, which resulted in a brawl between the two teams. After the bout against the Irishman, Khabib improved his record to 27-0 which was then the longest win streak in UFC history. The event drew 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, the most ever for an MMA event.
In June 2019, Nurmagomedov signed a new multi-fight contract with the UFC. In the first fight of his new deal, Nurmagomedov made the second defence of his title against interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier on 7 September 2019 in the main event at UFC 242. He won the fight via a rear naked choke submission in the third round. The win unified both titles and earned Nurmagomedov his second Performance of the Night bonus award. He and Poirier swapped shirts after the fight as a show of respect. In his post-fight interview Nurmagomedov said that he would be selling the shirt Poirier gave him and donating the proceeds to Poirier's charity. The shirt sold for $100,000 and the donation was matched by UFC president Dana White.
Nurmagomedov was scheduled to defend his title against Tony Ferguson on 18 April 2020 at UFC 249. This was the fifth time that a fight between the pair had been scheduled, and both fighters were on 12-fight win streaks in the UFC. However, Nurmagomedov was unable to leave Russia because of restricted air travel due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and so was removed from the card. Ferguson instead faced top contender Justin Gaethje for the interim UFC Lightweight Championship at UFC 249, which was postponed to 9 May. Gaethje won the fight by fifth-round TKO, thus ending Ferguson's win streak and securing himself a shot at the undisputed title against Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov faced Gaethje in a unification bout on 24 October 2020 in the main event at UFC 254. Nurmagomedov won the fight via technical submission with a triangle choke in the second round to defend and re-unify the UFC Lightweight Championship. In his post-fight interview, Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. He explained that he had promised his mother that he would not continue to fight without his late father, "No way I'm going to come here without my father. It was first time after what happened with my father, when UFC called me about Justin, I talk with my mother three days. She doesn't want me to go fight without my father but I promised her it was going to be my last fight. If I give my word, I have to follow this. It was my last fight here." This win earned him the Performance of the Night award. Daniel Cormier claimed in an episode of DC & Helwani, after the fight, that Khabib had said he chose the triangle choke instead of an arm bar in order to prevent Gaethje from being injured.
Despite attempted negotiations to bring him back for one more fight, UFC president Dana White announced on 19 March 2021 that he had accepted Nurmagomedov's decision to retire and that the UFC Lightweight Championship had been officially vacated.
On July 1, 2022 Nurmagomedov was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on the International Fight Week in Las Vegas.
Following his retirement, Nurmagomedov purchased the Gorilla Fighting Championship (GFC), a Russian-based MMA promotion, for $1 million – going on to rename it as the Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC).
Since retiring in October 2020, Nurmagomedov has been an active coach with American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez. He currently coaches and corners current UFC Lightweight Champion Islam Makhachev, Zubaira Tukhugov (UFC), Tagir Ulanbekov (UFC), Islam Mamedov (Bellator), Gadzhi Rabadanov (Bellator), Saygid Izagakhmaev (ONE Championship) and cousins Abubakar Nurmagomedov (UFC), Umar Nurmagomedov (UFC), Usman Nurmagomedov (Bellator), and Belal Muhammad at UFC 280.