Khabib Not Interested In Fighting: I Want To Live For Myself

Khabib Nurmagomedov is firmly holding his ground, despite repeated attempts from Dana White to pull him out of retirement.

Khabib announced his retirement after successfully defending his lightweight title by submitting Justin Gaethje in the second round at UFC 254. Although it’s been over four months since he announced his retirement, he’s still the official UFC 155lbs champion as Dana continues to chase him.

A Normal Life

However, the UFC president’s chances of winning this tug-of-war with Khabib appear slim. Speaking to Esquire Middle East, the undefeated Dagestani said that he doesn’t want to devote all of his time to the sport anymore.

“Every day I woke up in the morning and started training, and in the evening my body was exhausted, because I had brought it to the limit,” Khabib said. “I just want to live a life in which I can get at least a little sleep before lunchtime, to live for myself and not devote myself 100 percent to sports.”

Coaching The Next Gen

‘The Eagle’ landed in Las Vegas earlier this week to corner his teammate Islam Makhachev, who is scheduled to face Drew Dober this weekend at UFC 259. Khabib was last seen cageside cornering his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov for his fight with Sergey Morozov at UFC Fight Island 8.

With a number of his teammates competing in the top MMA organisations around the world, Khabib wants to help them fulfil their potential, but without committing to a full time coaching role.

“Now that I’m not going to train anymore, I have people close to me — brothers and friends — who are now fighting at the highest level,” Khabib revealed. “There are about five or six people who we are building the path with, and I will help them, train with them, share my experiences. To some extent, this can be called a coaching life, but I am not going to fully enter into coaching. I will always be there and share my experience.”

While in Vegas, Khabib is also expected to meet Dana to have a final word on his fighting future.

Would you like to see Khabib Nurmagomedov fight again?

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