UFC 254 witnessed one of the biggest fights in the history of the sport when Khabib Nurmagomedov defended his title against Justin Gaethje.
Before the fight started it was 28-0. And after the dust settled, Khabib has achieved an unprecedented 29-0 record in MMA. With the win over Justin Gaethje, Khabib has solidified has to position as the greatest lightweight to ever grace the octagon. It would be hard to argue to Khabib’s claim of being the greatest of all time as well.
But the celebration of Khabib’s fans came to an end when the lightweight champion announced retirement from the sport. Khabib Nurmagomedov stated that this will be his last fight in UFC and he won’t compete again.
Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement after #UFC254, walking away with an undefeated record of 29-0. pic.twitter.com/8zeppj5rZc
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 24, 2020
The lightweight champion might be unbeaten inside the octagon but he suffered the biggest loss of his life as his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov passed away this year. Khabib Nurmagomedov broke down in tears after the win remembering his father.
In the post-fight interview, he stated that competing without his father in his corner is something that he does not want to pursue. He has achieved everything that his father dreamt of and he wanted to retire as the pound for pound number 1 in the world.
Khabib Nurmagomedov dominates Justin Gaethje
Khabib Nurmagomedov put on a clinic against the former interim champion, Justin Gaethje as he picked up a submission victory in round 2.
That was an intense fight with all the build-up and expectations. However, Khabib was never in trouble as long as the fight lasted. Gaethje seemed ready to defend the takedown of Khabib as he was fighting with an unorthodox low stance. However, his strikes were not as effective as the fans thought it would be.
He was not landing any clean and big strikes. And Khabib’s was durable enough to walk through those strikes and come up with his offense. On the ground, it was not even a close fight.
Many believed that Gaethje would scramble his way out of the ground position but Khabib dominated him on the ground and choked him out with a triangle.
With Khabib retiring the fans would miss out on many dream fights. Fans are never going to witness the dream fight between Khabib and GSP, the most anticipated fight between Khabib and Tony, or the biggest fight possible in UFC, the rematch of Khabib vs Conor. However, what more can one ask from Khabib Nurmagomedov.
He came into the sport, dominated each and every opponent, achieved everything he wanted to achieve, and retired as the best fighters to ever do it.