Khabib
Nurmagomedov claims he has never fought with money as his
primary motivation.
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Nurmagomedov, 35, hung up his gloves at his peak in 2020, retiring
as a champ with a perfect 29-0 record. The former Ultimate Fighting
Championship lightweight king recently hinted that he has received
multiple million-dollar payday offers to bring him out of
retirement.
While Nurmagomedov admits it isn’t easy to turn down that kind of
big money, “The Eagle” refuses to budge from his decision, one he
claims he will never regret.
“When you’re the best fighter in the world, when you’re strong
enough, when you have money, when you’re famous, it’s very hard to
say no to all these things,” he told Daniel
Cormier on UFC Fight Pass’ “Ultimate 30” countdown
(transcription via
MMAFighting.com). “It’s very hard. It’s not easy. It’s not easy
[to] just say no to $20, $30, $40 million dollars. But for myself,
it’s not everything. This is not most important. It was not an easy
decision, but if I decide, I decide. It’s finished. I leave this
alone. I am happy and I never regret my decision. Never.”
Nurmagomedov walked through the UFC lightweight rankings during his
championship reign, leaving behind the likes of Justin
Gaethje, Dustin
Poirier, Rafael dos
Anjos and Conor
McGregor in his wake.
Nurmagomedov’s decision to retire came following a Round 2
submission win over Gaethje at UFC 254, keeping a promise he made
to his mother after the demise of his father and coach, Abdulmanap
Nurmagomedov.
Dana White initially brushed off Nurmagomedov’s retirement
announcement as an emotional outburst, insisting the Dagestani
would return to action. However, White also came to terms with
Nurmagomedov’s retirement with time as “The Eagle” remained firm on
his stance, even recently walking away from full-time coaching
duties.
No amount of money is likely to bring Nurmagomedov out of
retirement, as the former UFC champ claims that has never been his
motivation. Recalling a conversation from his early career,
Nurmagomedov reminded Cormier how surprised the latter was to hear
the purse he was getting paid to fight. However, “The Eagle” was
unbothered, having had only one goal in mind since his childhood
training days in Dagestan: to become a UFC champion.
“I told you [in 2012], ‘I’m going to be champion. I’m going to have
10-0 [record] in the UFC, undefeated, 27-0. And I don’t want to say
numbers, but I told you for how much money I’m going to fight, and
you [said], ‘No, this is impossible. Nobody fights in our sport for
this kind of money.’ It was 2012, I told you. And after how many
years? Like six years? It happened. I think this is about mental
[strength].
“This is about, do you really believe in this or not? Because if
somebody has a championship mentality, if you’re really a
competitor inside your life, inside your heart, and you stay
focused, you sacrifice all your time, success is going to come.
This is just, you have to be patient and that’s it. This is what I
was following all of my life, since I was a kid, I don’t even know
[how young], like 2, 3, 4, when I find myself on mats. I was
training all my life.”