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#UFC254: Emotional Khabib RETIRES after stunning win (Video)

Published

3 years ago

October 25, 2020

Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement following his stunning win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.

The lightweight king choked out his rival in the headline bout of the ‘Fight Island’ event before confirming it will be his last time in the Octagon..

An emotional Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after beating Justin Gaethje to unify the lightweight division at UFC 254.

Khabib, the unbeaten champion, was fighting for the first time since the death of his father and coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov in July.

Abdulmanap passed away following complications with coronavirus and his son, who had defeated Dustin Poirier in his previous bout in September 2019, was reportedly initially reluctant to fight again.

But Khabib returned to action in Abu Dhabi on Saturday and swiftly defeated interim champion Gaethje in a dominant display, winning by technical submission with a triangle chokehold in the second round.

Gaethje consoled Khabib as he burst into tears following the fight and, still in the Octagon, the 29-0 Russian made an immediate announcement on his future.

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29 men tried.
29 men failed.

Khabib Nurmagomedov retires undefeated and unmatched 🐐#UFC254

“Today I want to say this was my last fight,” he said. “There’s no way I’m going to come here without my father.

“When UFC comes to me about Justin, I spoke with my mother for three days. She didn’t want me to fight without father.

“I promised this is going to be my last fight. If I give my word, I have to follow this.”

Khabib added: “The only thing I want from the UFC is to put me as number one pound-for-pound fighter in the world. I deserve this.

“It was my father’s dream. What else? Conor [McGregor] and Dustin are going to fight – I choked out both of them. I’m not interested in this.”

It was a brutal display from Khabib, who grabbed Gaethje in the second and choked his opponent out when the referee failed to spot his attempts to tap out.