Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov made waves recently, stating in an interview that his son had only two years left in the sport if that.
“I don’t want to upset any fans but Khabib is 28 years old and by 30 he has to finish his career,” the Russian told Life.ru
As expected, the MMA world went into meltdown. He’s days away from his biggest fight to date, and will likely fight for a title should he beat Tony Ferguson at UFC 209. To be exact, Khabib has until September of 2018 if he follows his father’s advice.
Reading quotes, it seems more like a demand that advice from Abdulmanap, so could this actually happen? I’d say so. I mean, his father doesn’t seen to be joking, and seems pretty confident his son will be done at 30.
The big question is about Conor McGregor (as it is most of the time nowadays). Does Khabib have time to face Conor (if he beats Ferguson) for the title? Well, two years is normally much more time than a fight needs to take place, but let’s take some things into consideration. Firstly, Khabib has suffered with numerous injuries throughout his career, and has spent a considerbale amount of time on the sidelines, and has even been forced to pull out of many bouts. As well as that, McGregor is a very hard man to pin down, and I don’t mean literally.
Conor loves getting his own way, and that way almost always involves going against the Ultimate Fighting Championship. “The Notorious” is currently campaigning for a fight against Floyd Mayweather, and has recently got his boxing license. As well as that, the current lightweight champion has his first child on the way, with his son due to be born in May.
McGregor is out until May at least, then what comes first? A Floyd Mayweather fight? A boxing fight? Who knows?
I think the biggest thing we should be concentrating on now is Tony Ferguson vs. Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russian has a stern test in his way and it will likely be his toughest fight to date. If he wins, he may or may not fight Conor McGregor, if he loses, that fight is probably never going to happen.
