„The Eagle has landed“ 🦅@MAKHACHEVMMA
is excited to have @TeamKhabib
back in his corner for
#UFC302! pic.twitter.com/AcvpdByEnX— UFC (@ufc)
May 28, 2024
Islam
Makhachev has confirmed that Khabib
Nurmagomedov will be in his corner for his upcoming title
fight.
Makhachev (25-1) will defend his lightweight title against Dustin
Poirier (30-8) in the
UFC 302 main event on June 1 at Prudential Center in Newark,
New Jersey. While Makhachev has been seen training with
Nurmagomedov ahead of UFC 302, it wasn’t confirmed up until now
whether “The Eagle” would be present for the card. However,
Makhachev has now clarified that Nurmagomedov will indeed be in his
corner for the pay-per-view offering, which he is certainly glad
about. “Eagle is landed in Jersey City. He is going to be in my
corner. Honestly, I’m very happy because he is one of the best
corner, coach, brother, friend. That’s it.”
p.m. ET on ESPN+
Nurmagomedov retired from competition after defending his
lightweight title against Justin
Gaethje at
UFC 254 in 2020, following the death of his father, Abdulmanap
Nurmagomedov. “The Eagle” subsequently appeared to fill in his
father’s shoes, coaching and cornering his friends and teammates.
However, Nurmagomedov claimed to have completely parted ways with
the sport in January 2023, a month before Makhachev’s
UFC 284 title defense against Alexander
Volkanovski. UFC 302 will be the first time since then that
Nurmagomedov will grace a
Ultimate Fighting Championship event.