Khabib Nurmagomedov hinted at UFC retirement TWO WEEKS before facing Gaethje at UFC 254

Khabib Nurmagomedov stunned the entire MMA fraternity when he announced his retirement from the sport after his win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Khabib forced Gaethje to submit to a triangle choke in the second round to retain his lightweight title. In doing so, he extended his professional MMA record to 29-0, 13 of which came in the UFC. 

While fans are still digesting the fact the Russian is retiring from MMA, as it appears, the 32-year-old might have dropped a huge hint over his plans for the future during an interview, just two weeks before UFC 254. Speaking to ESPN during a UFC 254 promotional interview, Khabib opened up on his plans for after UFC 254 stating he does not want to put a "crazy goal" in front of him. Instead, the Dagestani fighter said he wanted to "spend time with his family, his friends and his people."

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It that's not a clear enough hint from the lightweight champ, moments later in the same interview, he added, "Soon, very soon I think, my career is going to finish. And I'm going to begin my new life without all this interview, without all this media stuff, weight cutting, hard training, focusing. I'm going to be getting a new life. And for life, I don't need too much. Even if you're a billionaire, you never eat more than one bread in one day."

"I want to be free, I want to fly, and I want to do whatever I want," Khabib said during the weeks leading up to UFC 254. 

Khabib retirement speech

During his retirement speech post his fight at UFC 254, the 29-0 fighter said he did not want to continue fighting without his late father and coach, Abdulmanap, who died earlier this year due to complications caused by coronavirus infection. 

"There’s no way I’m going to be back without my father. When UFC called me about Justin (Gaethje), I spoke with my mother for three days. She doesn't know how I fight without father, but I promised it’s going to be my last fight, and if I give my word, I have to follow it," Khabib retirement speech

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UFC 254 highlights

It was typical Khabib performance on Saturday as the champ dominated Justin Gaethje with relenting pressure and takedowns. After almost locking an armbar in the final stages of Round 1, Khabib made sure Gaethje had no place to escape when he took the American down with only his second successful takedown of the fight. A quick triangle choke followed which sent the interim champ to sleep. Khabib won the fight with just over 1:30 left in Round 2.

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(Image Credits: Khabib Nurmagomedov Instagram)