“If Usman or Umar fight, won’t Khabib come around the corner with those guys?” — Kamil Gadjiev

Founder of AMC Fight Nights Kamil Hajiyev in a conversation with a correspondent, he expressed the opinion that Khabib Nurmagomedov will continue to work as a second for MMA fighters.

Former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov will retire from the MMA industry in 2023, according to multiple sources. Nurmagomedov hinted at this when leaving a final message on his social media, after meeting his team and summarizing 2022.

Nurmagomedov’s next activity was expected to be a fight in Perth, Australia, where the Russian would likely support Islam Makhachev in a title fight against Alex Volkanovski. Promoter Kamil Gadzhiev feels that Nurmagomedov will continue to work as a second for the fighters after this fight and doesn’t think this will be Nurmagomedov’s last appearance for a corner:

– There are still emotions – well, when Usman Nurmagomedov or Umar Nurmagomedov (first cousins. – “”) will fight, and Khabib will be in the hall, well, why Khabib basically will not go in around with these guys? It will always fit. It’s a question of positioning – who are you? If you are a person who periodically visits some MMA tournaments where people close to you fight, yes. This is how you decorate the tournament. And to make him a conveyor, when Khabib is in the corner every time, it seems to me that it is no longer his level. He thus devalues ​​the very fact of his appearance. Let’s take better advantage of the fact that he appears about twice a year and these tournaments will become special,” said Hajiyev.

Currently, Nurmagomedov is the owner of the MMA Eagles MMA league. Among the current UFC and Bellator athletes, three first cousins ​​of the former champion are represented: Abubakar, Umar and Usman, who owns the Bellator championship belt.