(born 20 September 1988) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He was the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion ever, having held the title from April 2018 to March 2021. With 29 wins and no losses, he retired with an undefeated record.[8] Nurmagomedov is widely considered to be among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time,[9] and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on June 30, 2022.[10].
A two-time world champion in combat sambo, Nurmagomedov has a background in wrestling, judo, and sambo. Nurmagomedov was ranked #1 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings at the time of his retirement,[11] until being removed following his title vacation in March 2021.[12] Fight Matrix ranks him as the #1 lightweight of all time.[13] In 2019, Forbes ranked Nurmagomedov as the No. 1 most successful Russian athlete; Nurmagomedov also topped the list of the 40 most successful Russian show business and sports personalities under 40.[14][15].
Early life
Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov was born to an Avar family on 20 September 1988 in the village of Sildi in the Tsumadinsky District of the Dagestan ASSR, an autonomous republic within the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.[19][20][21] He has an older brother, Magomed, and younger sister, Amina.[22] His father’s family had moved from Sildi to Kirovaul, where his father converted the ground floor of their two-story building into a gym. Nurmagomedov grew up in the household with his siblings and cousins.[22] His interest in martial arts began when watching students training at the gym.[23][24] Khabib’s training as a child included wrestling a bear when he was nine years old.[25][26]
As is common with many children in Dagestan, he began wrestling from an early age: he started at the age of eight under the tutelage of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.[27] A decorated athlete and a veteran of the Soviet Army, Abdulmanap had also wrestled from an early age, before undergoing training in judo and sambo in the military.[28] Abdulmanap dedicated his life to coaching the youth in Dagestan, in hopes of offering an alternative to the Islamic extremism common to the region.[29][18]
In 2001, his family moved to Makhachkala, the capital of Dagestan,[30] where he trained in wrestling from the age of 12, and judo from 15. He resumed training in combat sambo, under his father, at 17.[31] According to Nurmagomedov, the transition from wrestling to judo was difficult, but his father wanted him to get used to competing in a gi jacket.[19] Abdulmanap was a senior coach for the combat sambo national team in the Republic of Dagestan, training several athletes in sambo in Makhachkala, Russia.[28] Nurmagomedov frequently got into street fights in his youth, before focusing his attention on mixed martial arts.[32] Khabib said that, along with his father, three athletes who inspired him were the American boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson and the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Nazário.[33] He described Fedor Emelianenko, Maurício Rua, and Georges St-Pierre as his favorite MMA fighters at the time.[34]
Early career
Nurmagomedov made his professional MMA debut in September 2008, compiling four wins in under a month. On 11 October, he became the inaugural Atrium Cup tournament champion, having defeated his three opponents at the Moscow event. Over the next three years, he went undefeated, finishing 11 out of 12 opponents. These included a first-round armbar finish of future Bellator title challenger Shahbulat Shamhalaev, which marked his M-1 Global debut.
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