Khabib Nurmagomedov has claimed that his new training center in Dagestan was paid for from his historic fight against Conor McGregor.
Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor were involved in the biggest rivalry in UFC history when they clashed for the lightweight title at UFC 229, with Nurmagomedov coming out on top.
Despite the rivalry dating back to 2018, the two have continued to feud online ever since, but have fortunately not come face-to-face since their clash in the UFC.
Nurmagomedov shockingly retired from the UFC in 2020 after a dominant submission win over Justin Gaethje, and now continues his legacy as one of the best coaches in the sport.
Khabib credits fight purse from McGregor fight for new training center in Dagestan
And with ‘The Eagle’ now a few years into his tenure as a full-time coach, he has built a huge, new, breathtaking training facility in the mountains of Dagestan.
Khabib coaches the likes of Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Usman Nurmagomedov, amongst others, and will attempt to coach Makhachev to a title in a second division later this year.
Khabib is following in his late father’s footsteps, as Abdulmanap was the head coach of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov School, which is the gym several Dagestani stars trained at.
The training center has been built in the mountains of Dagestan in a village called Sildi, which is Khabib’s native village, and is said to have been built for the next generation of MMA ‘problem solvers’.
And now, reacting to the opening of his training center, Khabib has credited his fight purse from his grudge fight against McGregor for being able to open up such a grand facility.
“Flew to America, took part in the biggest confrontation in the history of martial arts, beat up someone who I didn’t like (and they even paid me for it) and upon arrival home, invested it in this beautiful corner of Dagestan,” Khabib said in a statement on his Instagram story.
“This training base has an interesting history. And I would like to add one more thing, I will not recoup these investments in my life, and I did not and do not have a goal to do so. My goal was different,” he continued.
Khabib Nurmagomedov lost $2m for post-fight brawl with McGregor
Although it is unclear how much Khabib made from his historic fight against McGregor, the Irishman claimed that he made in excess of $50m for the event.
What is known, though, is that the Russian lightweight ended up losing $2m of his fight purse after he was fined for the post-fight melee that went down.