Khabib Nurmagomedov made history on Sunday by becoming the first Muslim, the first Russian and the first individual from the mountainous terrains of Dagestan to hold a UFC championship belt.
He has now accomplished his childhood dream of replicating his idol Georges Saint Pierre and claiming the UFC gold.
It has been a rough road for the 29-year-old from Dagestan. He has suffered injuries, weight-cut issues and has seen his opportunities handed over to someone else.But all of the adversity thrown his way has made him stronger, hungrier and ultimately the undisputed king of the Lightweight division.
He was scheduled to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 223 before the Mexican tripped and busted his knee. Then, Featherweight champion Max Holloway jumped in to rescue the event, but his spell lasted just over a couple of days.
In such circumstances where others would have just quit and moved on, Khabib remained determined to fight anybody. “I don’t care, even if King Kong make 155, just let it be,” he had said to UFC President Dana White.
The opportunity fell at not-so-known Alexander ‘Al’ Iaquinta’s way, who aimed to cash on this moment of a lifetime. Coached by Matt Serra, who shocked the world exactly 11-years back when he knocked GSP out, Iaquinta was tipped to do the same.
He, was, however facing a different animal. Khabib dominated for 5 rounds on the day winning a unanimous 50-43 decision. Despite that, his coaching staff and father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, were not nearly satisfied.
The reason of the dissatisfaction is clear. Khabib did not listen to the coaching staff in round 3 and 4, or perhaps it was an miscommunication. He was told to construct on his ground-and-pound and inflict more damage. The Russian, however, opted to stand-and-trade, with his chin criminally exposed.
But all is well that ends well. He’s the champion, 26-0 and he is on top of the world, and as they say; with great powers, come great responsibilities and for sure, all eyes will be on the Eagle.
So, who do you think fights him next?
Conor McGregor? The Irishman is after Khabib. The UFC has already recorded an unintentional promo – the bus incident – which was also added into UFC 223 Embedded.
The Eagle has been calling McGregor out every since, and it seems as if he has finally started to get the response. Additionally, Khabib has said in his press conference that “we need to fix this, inside cage or outside” to the entire McGregor-Bus saga.
Given that the move is shown the green light, the battle between the best striker and the best grappler in all of MMA would be one to write in history books.
Tony Ferguson? The UFC has tried to put together the matchup for four times to absolutely no avail. Each fighter pulled out twice and Dana White has already said that he would not make the fight between the two again.
But seriously, who believes Dana? Tony vs Khabib is the fight the MMA world has been craving for since forever, and it would be the Eagle’s biggest test due to Ferguson’s dynamic and versatile style, plus his razor sharp jiu-jitsu.
We, the MMA fans, still hope this one plays out in the near future.
Georges Saint Pierre? The greatest of all time. GSP. A two division UFC Champion, with a record 9 title defences.
Khabib mentioned Pierre’s name in his post-fight interview. He said he wanted to fight the ‘best athlete in all of MMA’ but he also believed it is highly unlikely that GSP makes a cut to 155.
Either way, just the thought of Khabib vs GSP is enough to get one overwhelmed with emotions, let alone the state of the MMA world when and if the fight is booked.
But whosoever decides to step-in against the dominant Dagestani, they will have to set their clocks according to the Khabib Time because now, he’s the guy.