UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov has explained how he never discussed possible comeback opportunities, or even his final fight, with his mother after she made him retire from MMA in 2020.
There have been a number of fighters in boxing and MMA who have announced their "retirement", only to later return having earned more money from their promoters. But despite a number of big offers from UFC boss Dana White and even a $100million deal tabled by Floyd Mayweather, Nurmagomedov was never planning to make a comeback.
He is frequently asked about a return to fighting, but insists that he will honour his mother's wishes and stay retired. Nowadays, the Russian corners his teammates, but insists that he isn't keen to make the full-time transition into coaching as his father did during his career.
It was his dad's passing in 2020 due to heart complications that caused her to demand that he quit the sport, and they have never revisited the topic in the years since. "You have to take into account why I left," he told the official UFC Russia YouTube page in a lengthy sit-down. I had personal reasons for doing so.
"They had to do with my family, my father but of course I could have continued. People forget that, they think I left to negotiate a better contract, to negotiate more money for my return, that's not what happened, it was a concrete decision and I see no way how that can change, at least not now."
His mother was the reason that Nurmagomedov hung up the gloves at the age of 32 following his win over Justin Gaethje to put him at 29-0 as a professional at UFC 254 in October 2020. But the pair didn't discuss it when he returned, with the fighter saying that generally she didn't have much to do with his career, often times not even watching his fights.
"We never talked about it," he explained. "That matter in particular about my career, whether I'll come back or not - she watched my last fight in full. She caught glimpses of my other fights, we tried to have her not watch them. She watched the last fight but we never discussed it.
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"It may seem strange, there were moments that we discussed from other fights, but maybe it just such an emotional moment that we didn't discuss it. I don't even know; she didn't ask and I didn't tell her."
Nurmagomedov's attentions are currently focused on his teammate Islam Makhachev as he works towards a shot at his old lightweight title. Makhachev faces Charles Oliveira for the vacant belt at UFC 280 in Abu Dhabi, with the Brazilian essentially the champion despite being stripped ahead of his last outing.
The former champion also works with a number of other fighters, but has refused to become a coach like his father and believes that he is more of a "mentor" in the gym. He will, however, be in Makhachev's corner for the biggest moment of his career at the Etihad Arena on Yas Island.
