Khabib Nurmagomedov Quits Coaching Year After UFC Hall of Fame Speech

Khabib Nurmagomedov is the first Russian MMA champion who retired from MMA undefeated with a 29-0 record. Nurmagomeodov earned a big list of records in Sambo, Wrestling, Judo, and UFC.

On 30 June 2022, Khabib made another achievement by inducting his name. He was honored to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame along with his friend Daniel Cormier. Both friends made their debut together, retired almost together in the same year, and were also inducted into the Hall of Fame together, how amazing is that!

In his UFC Hall of Fame speech, Khabib took a very humble start and expressed gratitude to God for his achievements. Then he explained his father’s (Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov) struggles and hardships that became the true motivation and reason for his transition from nothing to a UFC Champion. Khabib credited his father for his success. He said:

"Ten years ago, my mind was completely different, I'm going to be champion, I'm going to be rich, buy everything. But in the last two years, everything that has happened, my mind. The way I was thinking changed. My father is not with me, and it's a very hard time to stand here and talk about him. It's very emotional for me."

Khabib further mentioned that he never cared who the opponent was. He just has to win without caring about the opponent. He showed gratitude towards his coach who supported him, believed in him, and treated him like his son. He also made his fans happy by saying they would see him near the cage in the coming years.

Khabib’s Retirement form Coaching

After retiring from Wrestling in 2020, it seems that the Russian champion also quit coaching to spend quality time with his family and people. He posted on 6 January 2023 on his Instagram account in Russian:

“It has certainly been a very busy and successful year.
Take care, brothers
I hope my decision will only benefit, I hugged you all tightly  
Thank you, you have been a big reason for my success in sports.”

As Khabib did not specify his reason in this post, his mentor and coach Javier Mendez assured the news by saying that,

“He talked to me about three weeks ago and told me of his plan and said he planned to talk to the team and inform them of his decision. He’s doing this for the right reasons. He’s a family man and he simply wants to spend more time with his family.”

Khabib gave the best UFC fighters to the World including Tagir Ulanbekov, Saygid Izagakhmaev, Gadzhi Rabadanov, and Islam Mamedov. One of his best students Islam Makhachev appeared phenomenally in UFC 280 and became the Lightweight champion. As Khabib mentioned in his Hall of Fame speech that he will not make his fans miss him and come back to the UFC cage. Hopefully, after a break, Khabib will continuously give us more champions on the UFC podium.

Photo credit: @khabib_nurmagomedov