Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Profile: Career, Record, Age, Net Worth, and More

Find out about the personal and professional achievements of Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov is known as an Eagle that out-wrestled bears to become the greatest lightweight fighter ever. He competed for the shortest time, but built up enough of a reputation to be considered the MMA GOAT.

Khabib is a two-time Sambo world champion, and retired as the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. He is undefeated, having won all 29 of his MMA fights.

Khabib has beaten some of the best lightweight fighters ever. He is also one of the biggest draws in MMA history. Also, he has arguably the biggest fan base in MMA and is a role model for millions.

With Khabib still being as relevant as ever, let’s take a look at his accomplishments and lifestyle.

Khabib’s Early Life

Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov was born in 1988, in the mountains of Sildi in Dagestan, Russia. His father was a military veteran and an acclaimed wrestling coach for the youth. Khabib’s family lived a simplistic lifestyle. He started training in Sambo when he was just a child.

He even wrestled a baby bear, and there’s a video of him on doing it online. He began to train in wrestling and Judo during his preteens.

Khabib’s Career

Khabib’s Amateur Career

Khabib’s talent and skill in Sambo began to show at an early age. He represented Russia at the WCSF World Championships in the Sambo category. He competed in the tournament twice; once in 2009 and once in 2010. He won gold medals for both of his entries. This was during the time that he had already kick-started his professional MMA career.

Khabib’s Pro Career

Khabib began fighting pro at the age of 17. He fought for the regional MMA organisations; picking up victories over local MMA fighters. In his first year of fighting, he picked up 6 wins. He showed that he had immense strength and endurance. His wrestling skills translated well in cagefighting. Khabib landed wins by submission, decision and TKO.

He then made it to the big leagues of M1 Global, owned by Fedor Emelienko. His first ever match for the promotion was against future Bellator FC fighter Shahbulat Shamhalaev. Khabib ended up winning the fight via submission. He won three more matches, two of which were for M-1. He then competed for Russia’s ProFC and won all the fights there to rack up a spotless record of 16 wins.

This got him noticed by the UFC. Khabib then debuted in the company, signing up for 6 fights in the lightweight division. He started off by facing former WEC hotshot Kamal Shalorus. Khabib was the underdog, yet it was Shalorus that looked scared and confused. Khabib calmly submitted him in the third round. In the same year, he went the distance and beat the seasoned Gleison Tibau.

This was one of the most challenging battles of both their careers. He then faced Thiago Tavares and smashed him viciously with elbows and other strikes in the first round. Khabib’s next opponent gave him his toughest fight till that point. It was Abel Trujillo who gave it his all but only ended up becoming part of Khabib’s 21 takedowns, the most in UFC history for a single fight.

Khabib’s Superstardom

In his next fight, Khabib threw Pat Healy around the Octagon for three rounds. He won via unanimous decision. This win resulted in him being considered a serious contender; so much so that he got to face lightweight hotshot Rafael Dos Anjos. Khabib overcame Dos Anjos’s proficient striking and out-wrestled him to get another unanimous decision. He then took a two-year hiatus due to injuries and health issues.

Khabib’s win over RDA had led to more mainstream attention and promotion from media outlets. This made him a serious player in the game. When Dos Anjos won the lightweight title after Khabib’s break, it brought even more attention to the Eagle as he was a contender who had defeated the champion. No one discussed the world title without mentioning Khabib. Khabib would return to face Darrell Horcher.

Khabib won his next fight via TKO after pummelling Horcher with punches. Later on, he became scheduled to face Michael Johnson. Johnson was a big-time player of the division and was famous for his striking. The match happened and Johnson did connect with some impressive shots early on. Khabib, however, showed no signs of pain and used Johnson’s own methodology to beat his brain cells out.

His next fight was against the brutal leg kicker, Edson Barboza. Khabib walked through Barboza’s shots, despite the latter’s reputation for kicking hard with accuracy. At the same time, comparisons were being made of Khabib with the biggest player in the game, the lightweight champion Conor McGregor. Conor was stripped of his belt as he was more interested in boxing Floyd Mayweather than defending the title.

Khabib was to face Tony Ferguson, a fighter with whom his fights have been cancelled 5 times. It didn’t happen and he faced Al Laquinta for the UFC lightweight championship. During this time, Khabib got attacked by Conor in the infamous bus attack. Laquinta tried to out-strike Khabib, and even landed some accurate strikes. Khabib still went the distance with him, took the W, and the world title.

Khabib takes down Conor.

Khabib’s next fight was the biggest in MMA history. It was against Conor McGregor at UFC 229. It became the biggest box office success in MMA and one of the biggest in combat sports. McGregor became the first-ever fighter to win a round against Khabib. But that was it as Khabib dominated the rest of the fight and choked out Conor in the 4th round to retain.

He then faced and defeated Dustin Poirier one year later with a rear-naked choke. His last fight was against Justin Gaejthe. He won with a second-round submission. He also unified the interim and original belts to become the undisputed lightweight champion. At the peak of his career, Khabib then retired from the sport due to his father’s passing, having made a promise to his mother.

Khabib Outside MMA

Khabib is now pursuing various business opportunities. This includes, but is not limited to, nutrition, telecom and MMA. He’s easily worth at least $40 million and has a large following on social media. He is currently coaching several fighters and is highly successful at doing so.