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Khabib Nurmagomedov doesn’t feel he ever reached his final form throughout his unbeaten MMA run, but he thinks he did come close.
Nurmagomedov cemented his legacy thanks to his dominance in the lightweight division and how one-sided most of his fights were at the highest levels. “The Eagle” retired as the UFC lightweight titleholder back in 2020, and he left competition with a 29-0 record.
During an interview with Lex Fridman, Nurmagomedov said that despite being a Hall of Famer who has been in the GOAT discussion for several years, he never hit his true peak inside the Octagon.
😌 Khabib says we ‘never saw his limit’ in the cage, but the closest was the Justin Gaethje fight
“In fights no, you’ve never seen my limit in fights.
First and foremost, it was because I had lost my father, it was hard to pull myself together. Everything piled up at once, my… pic.twitter.com/Maq0TnBA6N
— Home of Fight (@Home_of_Fight) August 20, 2026
“No, you’ve never seen my limit in fights,” Nurmagomedov said.
Nurmagomedov was asked what made his final fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 difficult even though he managed to secure a second-round submission finish.
“First and foremost, it was because I had lost my father,” Nurmagomedov said. “It was hard to pull myself together. Everything had piled up at once. My father was gone, and training without my father, without the person I was doing 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.”
For some, Nurmagomedov retired too soon to be at the top of the GOAT list, but others, such as fellow Hall of Famer Daniel Cormier, believe the dominance against elite names is enough for “The Eagle” to hold such a distinction.
These days, Nurmagomedov gets fulfillment from coaching, although he admits it comes with a different kind of stress. He has helped mentor Islam Makhachev, who has been making his own case for the GOAT conversation having capturing UFC gold at lightweight and welterweight.
If Khabib Nurmagomedov stuck around longer, do you think he still would’ve retired undefeated? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
This article appeared first on BJPENN.COM
