Khabib Nurmagomedov might be one of the greatest MMA athletes of all-time but isn’t on the Mount Rushmore of the sport, according to Henry Cejudo

Khabib Nurmagomedov retiring from the UFC after successfully defeating Justin Gaethje was one of the most shocking moments this year.

The Russian broke down after the win as he defended his UFC Lightweight title and then retired from the sport. Khabib had made a promise to his mother about stopping after the Gaethje fight and remains on 29-0 in his career.

However, Henry Cejudo believes the Russian will be back. Khabib might have made the decision since his father passed away a few months before this fight and even Dana White has suggested that the emotions got the better of him.

Cejudo was speaking to Helen Yee and believed that the Dagestan star would make a return to MMA:

“I think he will. I think he has his dad’s promise for the 30 fights, I think he is just emotional, kind of like me when I retired but I was already kind of set in place that I have done everything in my career.

“Khabib has not done everything, he has not done everything in his career.”

Not on the Mountain

Cejudo, a former two-division UFC Champion also retired from the sport after a successful defence, and spoke about the MMA Mount Rushmore.

There has been a lot of talk about who should be up there with Khabib in the running. However, he didn’t believe Khabib would be there and also was unsure of his place in the MMA Mount Rushmore:

“He is a good friend of mine but even when we talk about GOAT mountain, Khabib is not part of the GOAT mountain, I am not even part of the GOAT mountain, to be honest with you.

“My take, it is Demetrious Johnson, Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, GSP, and that’s it.”

Cejudo also spoke about only caring about what the legends of the sport said and not what the fans of analysts would bring up.

However, he suggested that the Combat sports GOAT mountain would feature four different stars:

“GSP if you are watching this. Jon Jones, Demetrious Johnson, Anderson Silva, these are the complete facts. I have nothing to do, I am not part of the GOAT mountain when it comes to MMA but I will say this.

“In the GOAT mountain of combat sports, I remain number 1 and then I would put Khabib with me and Daniel Cormier with me and Fabricio Werdum.

“These are the people who have done something in combat sports and that’s it.”

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