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New Delhi |
October 26, 2020 12:54:04 am
Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts after his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi. (Source: UFC)
There is a perverse delight in watching mixed martial arts (MMA) fights from a different era. Watching a boxer go up against a submission specialist, knowing how it would end in quick agony and a quicker tap-out. A fever dream of stylistic ‘what if’ fantasy showdowns in the early ’90s, MMA has now become a sport with no one-trick ponies, just masters of all trades. For the most part, every modern fighter can throw his hands and shake his head, and knows enough about fighting to pull off a takedown. And everyone and their dog have at least one brown belt in jiu-jitsu.
That’s why Khabib Nurmagomedov, the wrestling virtuoso, was special.
On Saturday, after a win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi, he retired an undisputed and undefeated champion. But perhaps his greatest achievement, bigger than the lightweight title or the unprecedented 29-0 record, was that he became a huge draw with his unmatched fight, in an era where boos resonate the second he a fight goes to the ground.
Their struggle and grassroots work were not passive at all. The word ‘maul’ has been overused in the context of Khabib, but there is no better descriptor. On the ground, he is constantly scrambling for positions, going from holding to holding, looking for openings to slide his arm under an opponent’s chin or isolate a limb. And if nothing worked, he would sit down and start raining blows. All this while audibly telling opponents to “give up.”
“Stay close to your parents because one day it will happen. You never know what will happen tomorrow, you never know. “
– Khabib Nurmagomedovhttps: //t.co/uzjm2NO3a3
– Express Sports (@IExpressSports) October 25, 2020
The carpet was mud and Khabib a boa constrictor. He made the sport seem special and his opponents were ordinary.
Stylistically, Gaethje, the 22-2 fighter, was Khabib’s biggest test. The hyperviolent American fights with great volume and pressure, hits hard and has a stellar collegiate wrestling record to boot. But against Khabib, there is no way to chain your attacks because you are always worried about the takedown. And in the first round, Khabib edged out a conflicting Gaethje. Just as Gaethje found his range with a couple of punches, Khabib fired for a double-leg takedown, secured it, smashed Gaethje against the cage, and reached for an arm before the round was over.
In the second round, a cool Gaethje unsettled Khabib with strong kicks to the front inside and outside leg. The Russian pulled out the old jailbreak card, went down, used Gaethje’s momentum to get the mount, and put him to sleep with a triangle choke; all in a flawless sequence.
– Streetfight Banned-cho (@streetfitebncho) October 25, 2020
It was his best performance, after what had undoubtedly been his worst camp yet. Khabib’s coach Javier Mendez told Yahoo Sports’ Kevin Iole that his fighter had broken a toe and was out for two weeks due to mumps. For Khabib, physical problems aside, the biggest tragedy was losing his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who died from complications from COVID-19 in July.
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Abdulmanap, who had been his son’s coach his entire life, once told reporters: “A boy always wants his father to see what his son is capable of.”
Perhaps that was on the mind of Khabib, who sobbed inconsolably after Saturday’s title defense. He revealed that he had consulted his mother when the UFC approached him for the Gaethje fight.
This was for Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov 🏆 pic.twitter.com/ZZdywrlE5e
– UFC (@ufc) October 24, 2020
“She didn’t want me to fight without my father and I told her this is my last fight, and I have given her my word,” Khabib said after the fight, before addressing his opponent. “Thank you very much Justin. I know you’re great, I know how you take care of your people. Be close to your parents, because you never know what will happen tomorrow ”.
That’s the other aspect of Nurmagomedov’s personality that captured the imagination of the West and made him a global superstar. For a long time, Khabib, who grew up fighting bears and swimming against icy currents in the rugged and mountainous Russian republic of Dagestan, battled elite sparring partners until they couldn’t continue, spoke broken English with a heavy accent, and used the papakha. , a traditional sheepskin hat, was an exotic figure, almost caricatured for the largely American UFC audience.
//www.instagram.com/embed.js
In 2017, Abdulmanap was denied a visa to corner his son’s fighting in Las Vegas, coincidentally a month after US President Donald Trump issued a travel ban to citizens of seven predominantly populous countries. Muslim. A year later, Nurmagomedov became the first Muslim UFC champion and papakhas flew off the shelves.
His immense faith and respect for his religion and his family distinguish him from daring and sophisticated fighters. Conor McGregor found out the hard way, when he offered Khabib a shot of whiskey, called his father a “lick O’Hoolihan’s ass” and “a shivering coward” for posing with pro-Kremlin Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov, he mentioned the frosty relations between Dagestan and Chechnya and attacked Khabib’s confidants.
It was a promotional tactic from the Irish megastar, who admitted it during a four-round stomp at the hands of Khabib. “It’s all business,” McGregor said disheveled at the end of a round. “Come on, talk now, hen,” Khabib repeated, before strangling him and jumping from the cage into McGregor’s entourage.
Was there any truth to what McGregor said? Insurance. Khabib calls Ziyavudin Magomedov his “older brother”. Magomedov, whose wealth is estimated at $ 1.2 billion, is a currently detained combat sports enthusiast, charged with embezzlement of more than 2 billion rubles, approximately $ 35 million, fraud and “organizing a criminal community.”
Since his victory over McGregor, Khabib has also allegedly been used as a tool of geopolitical diplomacy by Kadyrov, who in 2017 launched what Human Rights Watch called an “anti-gay purge.” In his defense, Kadyrov told HBO: “We don’t have gays. To purify our blood, if there are any here, take them away. “
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For now, Khabib is retiring as a GOAT. There have been others with more title defenses, more fights with tougher opponents. But there is no L in Khabib’s record, no asterisks from failed drug tests. Khabib was never knocked down, much less knocked out. And no one has ever looked so dominant in the cage, or indisputably unique outside of it.
Khabib was excited after his victory in # UFC254 pic.twitter.com/jVuwSD2j7b
– ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 24, 2020
Retirements are arbitrary in combat sports. Khabib’s nemesis McGregor has retired three times in four years. Khabib had also been looking for a super fight against retired Canadian hall of fame and phenomenon Georges St-Pierre. GSP announced his retirement in 2013 after defending the welterweight belt nine times. But the urge to compete brought him back in 2017, when he won the middleweight belt before vacating and retired again.
Perhaps a similar itch would make Khabib return. But if not, Khabib ends his MMA career a proud, undefeated, albeit conflictual champion.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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