Coming into the fight question marks were raised about Khabib’s mental and physical state in the wake of the tragic passing of his father, coach and best friend Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Coupled with what many believed to be his biggest challenger post Conor McGregor the cards appeared stacked against the UFC’s pound for pound king.
Uncharacteristic
What immediately caught the eye in the lead up to the fight was Khabib’s relief when seeing he had made weight which is not something we have ever seen from the Russian. This strange behaviour continued with his walk to the Octagon where he appeared to be breathing heavily.
These abnormalities were short lived however as the cage gate was closed and all that was left facing Khabib was what he knew best, a highly touted opponent with the potential to cause him harm or so we thought. After an initial two minutes of feeling each other out the fight exploded with both fighters landing heavy shots, but it was clear that Gaethje was on the back foot in both a physical and mental sense. Khabib never allowed the American to push forward outside of the odd leg kick and heavy shot, which it must be said did appear to rock Khabib temporarily. But it was one of Gaethje’s famed calf kicks that would be his undoing as Khabib grabbed the leg and began mauling his opponent coming ever so close to sealing a first-round submission.
As the seconds counted down in round one, the challenger appeared to be drowning in constant Dagestani wrestling pressure as Khabib unloaded big shots and technical moves that Gaethje had never faced before. As the round expired the damage that had been done was evident on Gaethje. Once back in his corner Gaethje’s coach Trevor Woodman remained calm instructing him to slow down and be calm when in the clinch. Sounds advice no doubt but against Khabib this is easier said than done.
As the two men met in the middle of the Octagon for the start of round two, Khabib appeared to be limping leading commentators to suggest that Gaethje’s leg kicks had indeed had the desired effect. Unfortunately for the challenger however this sign of weakness was brief as Khabib picked up where he left off and took Gaethje down with a heavy shot and immediately began to position himself to get the submission. After just one minute and thirty-four seconds Khabib got what we so desperately wanted as Gaethje tapped multiple times which unfortunately went unnoticed by referee Jason Herzog who let the fight go a fraction too long which led to Gaethje ending the fight unconscious.
Relief And Shock
Upon seeing Gaethje was out Herzog called an end to the action. What followed will live in the memory of fight fans for a long time as Khabib fell to the floor and cried in what was clearly a tribute to his late father. Upon getting back to his feet the undisputed and undefeated king shocked the world as he cut off his gloves and announced his retirement from mixed martial arts with immediate effect as he went on to say.
“Today, I want to say this is my last fight. No way am I coming here without my father. When UFC comes to me about Justin, I spoke with my mother for three days.
“She didn’t want me to fight without my father. I promised to her this was going to be my last fight and if I give her my word, I have to follow through with this.
“There is only one thing I want from UFC: to put me as No 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world because I deserve it.”
Respect
The stunned silence in the room was echoed momentarily around the world before an outpouring of praise and support for arguably the greatest ever to do it including from rival Conor McGregor who tweeted:
Others who praised the UFC’s pound for pound best included teammate and former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier:
Whilst many had speculated that Khabib would fight once more to make his record a perfect 30 – 0 the emotional toll of losing his father was clearly too great for Khabib who had he stayed looked like to either fight another all-time great in the form of George St Pierre in what would go down as the biggest fight in mixed martial arts history. Other options for Khabib included a rematch with Conor McGregor which was set to earn him a mega pay-check of $100 Million.
However, in remaining consistent with the values that were given to him by his father, Khabib has been consistent in stating that he has no interest in renewing the bad blood that he has with arch-rival McGregor.
All To Play For
As “The Eagle” bows out on top, the focus now turns to who will take over the crown. Following his defeat Gaethje believes that he remains the number one in the division, however with Dustin Poirier and Conor McGregor set for a fight in January 2021 the lightweight belt may well be on the line. Outside of this top contender’s clash Tony Ferguson and Michael Chandler appear to be on a collision course in the near future which may mean that Gaethje is the out man out. If this scenario plays out, then Gaethje may need to wait his turn to face the winner of either fight or perhaps even the winner of a fight between the winners of the other two fights.
Whilst everything is now up in the air one things remains, Khabib Nurmagomedov is the greatest lightweight fighter in UFC history and may well be the greatest pound for pound fighter ever. As a man of his word it looks unlikely that he will return, however nobody would begrudge him the time to mourn the loss of his greatest ever ally before launching a comeback later down the line.