Khabib Nurmagomedov and and his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov give a press conference in Moscow on November 26, 2018. (Photo by Kirill KUDRYAVTSEV / AFP) (Photo credit should read KIRILL KUDRYAVTSEV/AFP via Getty Images)
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father of Khabib, passed away recently while battling Covid-19
Khabib Nurmagomedov has always spoken about how much he respects his father, Abdulmanap, and how everyone should do the same to their parents.
The UFC Lightweight Champion is one of the greatest in the history of MMA. He credits his father for the training he was subjected to and Abdulmanap was present in some of his UFC fights but couldn’t get to see his son defend his title against Justin Gaethje.
The pair are set to meet at UFC 254 but there were doubts of Khabib returning after his father passed away.
However, the Dagestan star is ready to face another big challenge, and BT Sport shared an incredible video charting his journey.
The animated video shows how Khabib grew up in the Russian mountains and there was a nod to him training with a bear.
Khabib used to wrestle with a bear when he was young and his father was a celebrated MMA coach in Dagestan.
While Khabib won gold in several competitions he started his MMA journey in spectacular fashion. He was undefeated before joining the UFC.
Khabib was 16-0 as he made his UFC debut but the video highlighted that his father had visa problems and couldn’t come to America.
Abdulmanap was present in Khabib’s last clash, against Dustin Poirier, where the Russian became the undisputed UFC Lightweight Champion.
His father wanted to see his son reach 30-0 and would have been present at Fight Island since this was in Abu Dhabi.
However, that was not to happen as Khabib was dealt a major blow. The Russian is one of the most mentally strong fighters in the business and it will be interesting to see how he does against Gaethje.
Khabib is 28-0 in his MMA career but Gaethje has been incredible over the past few fights. UFC 254 should be a cracker but many fans teared up after seeing this video.
There was no voice-over with the visuals and the music doing all the talking:
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