Barely touched during his marvellous Octagon run, Khabib Nurmagomedov did plant some seeds of doubt in his late father’s mind during a memorable title fight.
Sharing the ring with countless future Hall of Famers during his run within the UFC, former lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov emerged unscathed as gold holder.
And retiring in 2020 off the back of a successful title unification outing, Nurmagomedov dedicated his victory over Justin Gaethje to his late father and coach, Abdulmanap, who had passed just months prior.
Nonetheless, during one among his title outings specifically, a worrying moment for Nurmagomedov made his father, in attendance, quite nervous.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals Dustin Poirier made his father worry
In his second of three outings as lightweight champion, Nurmagomedov stood opposite then-interim titleholder Dustin Poirier in a visit to Abu Dhabi.
And emerging with a third-round rear-naked choke win over the Lafayette favorite, Nurmagomedov found himself in hassle courtesy of a patented guillotine attempt from the title challenger.
Remaining composed, Nurmagomedov allowed Poirier to blow his arms out before rallying and winning.
Nonetheless, in line with the Dagestan star, his father was greater than nervous throughout the attempt, for good reason.
“It’s unattainable to make me tap in front of my father,” Nurmagomedov told SKhalil during a recent interview.
“Father said he was nervous, but it surely’s unattainable to make me tap in front of my father,” Nurmagomedov explained. I used to be controlling the situation, but still it was dangerous.”
Nonetheless, in a daring admission, Nurmagomedov revealed how he had expected Poirier to throw up a submission attempt against him.
Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals he planned finish around Dustin Poirier’s guillotine
Tagged hard by veteran lightweight Michael Johnson earlier on his path to gold, beyond a major counter shot from Poirier and the above-mentioned submission attempt, Nurmagomedov was hardly in trouble in his tenure.
Nonetheless, in line with the Hall of Fame star, he had planned to establish a finish against Poirier off the back of a guaranteed guillotine attempt, in a shrewd move.
“It was my plan, but it surely was a really dangerous plan,” Nurmagomedov said in 2024. “Because you’ve to watch out. Possibly you think that he’s not choking you, and you may fall asleep. After that, once I escaped, I understood he’s finished. I take his back and I choke him out.”