Khabib Nurmagomedov has reflected on the most emotionally challenging fight of his legendary career, revealing that his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, played a crucial role in helping him defeat Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
Despite retiring with a flawless 29-0 record, Khabib Nurmagomedov remains one of the biggest stars in MMA history. His dominant victory over McGregor in October 2018 is still widely regarded as one of the sport’s most iconic moments, capping off a rivalry that transcended mixed martial arts and captured global attention.
The feud between the two lightweight stars became deeply personal long before they stepped inside the Octagon. McGregor repeatedly targeted Nurmagomedov’s family, religion, and personal life during the build-up, creating an intense atmosphere that tested the Dagestani champion both mentally and emotionally.
Speaking during a rare appearance on The Lex Fridman Podcast, Khabib Nurmagomedov admitted that the McGregor fight was the toughest mental challenge he had faced at that point in his career.
“One hundred percent,” Nurmagomedov said. “Because fighting’s all psychology, you know? It’s a mental game. Mentally speaking, that was my toughest fight. At that point, yeah. But a tougher fight came later.”
While Nurmagomedov ultimately submitted McGregor in the fourth round at UFC 229, he credits much of his composure during fight week to the guidance he received from his father.
“For me, since he didn’t have a visa, I just had to know exactly what he thought,” Nurmagomedov explained. “I didn’t care what anyone else thought or the opinions of the hundreds of millions watching this fight.
“I only cared about what he thought and what he said to me. But I couldn’t call him and say, ‘Father, what do you think about this?’ We never had that. My father knew exactly where to draw the line because he was in that same exact position with his own father.My father really kept me grounded, mentally.”
Abdulmanap’s influence extended far beyond coaching techniques and game plans. According to Khabib Nurmagomedov, his father helped him maintain the right mindset throughout one of the most pressure-filled moments of his career.
“He told me, ‘You have a choice. You can either break down and give up, or you can get through it all with dignity. Go in, win, and settle it once and for all.'”
Although the McGregor fight tested him mentally, Khabib Nurmagomedov believes his final UFC appearance against Justin Gaethje in 2020 was an even greater challenge.
The bout came just months after the death of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, forcing Khabib to prepare for a world title fight while grieving the loss of the man who had guided him throughout his entire life and career.
“First and foremost, it was because I had lost my father,” Nurmagomedov said. “It was hard to pull myself together. Everything piled up at once.
“My father was gone. And training without my father, without the person I was doing all of this for, the person I wanted to become champion for, first and foremost, to prove to him that I could become the best.
“And then the training camp itself, physically I was not in the best shape. I had injury after injury after injury, but mentally speaking I stayed completely sharp.”
Nurmagomedov defeated Gaethje via submission before announcing his retirement inside the Octagon, bringing an end to one of the greatest careers in MMA history.
Looking back, Khabib Nurmagomedov believes his rivalry with McGregor stood apart from most modern fight promotions because of how genuine the animosity was between them.
“The way he talked, what he stirred up, the lines he crossed, touching on family, religion,” Nurmagomedov said. “And then somehow on one side you had Conor, this really interesting champion who knew how to hype himself up. On the other side, you had this undefeated somebody from nowhere, from the mountains.
“It all somehow just happened naturally. And it wasn’t staged. It was real. We had a real rivalry, unlike the way a lot of people now just hype up interest in a fight. People feel that energy. People can tell what’s real and what’s fake, and because of that we went beyond our own sport. That’s what made this fight so massive.”
The UFC Hall of Famer even compared the rivalry to some of boxing’s most famous matchups, arguing that the magnitude of the event reached far beyond MMA fans.
“It was the exact same thing when I fought Conor,” Nurmagomedov said. “That fight went beyond our sport. It impacted every sport because athletes of all kinds of different sports were following it.
“And honestly, will there be a fight like that? It’s hard for me to say, but I think it’ll happen. There will always be champions. There will always be rivalries. When it happens is just a matter of time.”
