Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals voice message received from Zlatan Ibrahimovic before UFC 254

In a recent interview, Khabib Nurmagomedov played a voice message he received from the AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic before his clash with Justin Gaethje in October 2020. The Eagle, who is a huge football fan, has earned the admiration of several legendary footballers over the past few years, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Kylian Mbappe, Virgil van Dijk and many others. Cristiano Ronaldo had even praised the Russian ahead of the Gaethje bout, picking him to win the fight, which indeed happened as Khabib Nurmagomedov retained his lightweight title by submitting Gaethje in the second round of UFC 254.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic sent a voice message to Khabib before UFC 254 clash

Ronaldo was not the only star forward to offer some words of encouragement, with Khabib sharing the message he received from Ibrahimovic while talking to the YouTube channel ‘KraSava’. In the video, the Swedish player can be seen telling Nurmagomedov to always believe in himself and his abilities. Ibrahimovic stated that when someone is at the top, people “just want to find something to go against you. It's always the same s**t”.  

“If you feel young, you are young. If you train hard, you train hard. And if you know you're better than everybody, you're better than everybody. You just have to do it,” he added.

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic admires Khabib Nurmagomedov

There’s no doubt that Zlatan Ibrahimovic admires Khabib Nurmagomedov as the football icon has praised The Eagle on numerous occasions. In an interview in 2018, Ibrahimovic was asked to predict the outcome of the UFC 229 clash between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor. Ibrahimovic picked Khabib to win and every UFC and MMA fan knows what followed. The undefeated Russian battered Conor McGregor, winning via submission in the fourth round.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov has also hailed Zlatan Ibrahimovic in the past, even referring to him as 'The Beast', while sharing a picture of the Swedish player on his Instagram page.

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Khabib and Ibrahimovic: Khabib bored with MMA

Since announcing his retirement from the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov has shown interest in becoming a pro-footballer on various occasions. While adding to the same, Nurmagomedov told KraSava that he wants to ‘try something interesting’ as he’s bored with MMA. “Fenerbahce also offered to join them, Zlatan Ibrahimovic invited me to Milan. I'm bored with MMA. I want real competition,” he concluded.

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Image Source: Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Khabib Nurmagomedov/ Instagram