Khabib Nurmagomedov would've preferred to stay completely out of the spotlight after he hung up the gloves back in 2020 but "The Eagle" has continued to be a crucial member of his team.
With a busy weekend ahead, the former UFC lightweight champion is hoping to step away for good sooner rather than later.
Following the final fight of his career at UFC 254, Khabib has taken up more of a coaching role than he did during his active years.
The undefeated star would rather be away from all the chaos and stress of a fight week but he has to be there for his closely knit team, at least until they also decide to call time on their careers.
This weekend at UFC 311, coach Khabib will be in the corner for back-to-back title fights at the Intuit Dome in Los Angeles.
His own cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight title before in the main event, Islam Makhachev looks to break the title defence record of his long-time training partner by beating Arman Tsarukyan in a highly anticipated rematch.
Khabib recently sat down with Brett Okamoto for an interview on the UFC and ESPN's YouTube channels where he spoke about his plans for the future.
Anyone who has seen him corner a fighter in the past knows that Nurmagomedov is an incredibly emotional coach and this takes a lot out of him.
He said that when the current crop of fighters from his team compete in their last fights, he will leave by their side:
“When these guys finish, I’m going to finish,” Nurmagomedov said. “I hope it’s going to be very fast because I’m tired of all this. We were way on top of this game the last eight years, seven years since I become champion and you can even watch the team record. We almost don’t lose and I’m talking about 25 fighters, 25 professional fighters. We fight, we almost don’t lose, everybody fights around the world everywhere. Japan, Middle East, Europe, U.S., South America. We’re fighting in everywhere in this world, and we almost don’t lose.
“We have so many belts, we have so many champions, in so many different organizations, and all about because of sacrifice. All these guys they were with me, they were with my father when I was beginning. When I finish, a couple of guys with me already finished, there are like six, seven, eight on a very high level, they’re still there. When they finish, I’m going to finish, too.”
Watch the full interview below:
