Khabib Nurmagomedov is on the final stretch of his coaching career ahead of what’s expected to be a busy night for him at UFC 311.
UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, since retiring from his legendary fighting career, has transitioned into one of the top coaches in MMA. All of his understudies, including current UFC titleholders Islam Makhachev and Belal Muhammad, have gone on to have successful runs inside the cage.
Khabib, his cousins Umar and Usman, along with Makhachev have a combined professional MMA record of 91-1. The lone defeat of the team tree was when Makhachev was knocked out by Adriano Martins at UFC 192.
UFC 311 will be one of the busiest nights of Nurmagomedov’s coaching tenure as Makhachev and Umar fight in the top two bouts of the card. Makhachev will defend his UFC lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan, while Umar will challenge for the UFC bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili.
Nurmagomedov has expressed brutal honesty in how he feels about coaching some of the top athletes in the world. UFC 311 could potentially be one of the final times we see the UFC Hall of Famer in a high-profile fight corner.
Khabib Nurmagomedov inching closer to retiring from coaching
In a recent interview with ESPN‘s Brett Okamoto, Nurmagomedov was asked how long he can coach at his current workload output.
“When the guys finish, I’m going to finish. I hope it’s going to be very fast, I’m tired of all this,” Nurmagomedov said. “We’ve been on top of this game for like 7-8 years, since I became a champion. All these guys were with me, they were with my father when I was starting.
“There are still 6-8 [fighters competing] at a very high level. When they finish, I will finish too.”
Nurmagomedov retired from fighting following a successful lightweight title defense against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The fight came just months after Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, passed away.
While Nurmagomedov is on the final stretch of his coaching tenure, he has some unfinished business to attend to this weekend and beyond. After UFC 311, his cousin Usman will face Paul Hughes in the Bellator Champions Series: Dubai main event on January 25th.
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Nurmagomedov entered the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022 alongside his longtime teammate and friend Daniel Cormier. Despite several attempts by UFC CEO Dana White to lure Nurmagomedov out of retirement, the global superstar hasn’t budged in his stance.
Nurmagomedov defeated the likes of Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Gaethje during his historic UFC lightweight title reign. He’s widely recognized as the greatest lightweight of all time, a title in which Makhachev is quickly approaching.
When Nurmagomedov decides to walk away from MMA coaching, the sport will suffer the tremendous loss of one of the greatest talent developers in fighting. In the meantime, he’s looking ahead to what should be a marathon during UFC 311 fight week.