Not too many people have good connection with parents - Khabib Nurmagomedov looks back on his father's legacy

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s strong relationship with his late father Abdulmanap was well documented. ‘The Eagle’ has stated multiple times that his father was his coach, mentor, and closest confidant who supported him every step of the way.

During his interview with Brian J. Roberts, the retired Dagestani fighter talked about his UFC career, his vision for the Eagle FC promotion, and fatherhood. Khabib was asked about who had the biggest influence on him, and ‘The Eagle’ was quick to reply that the person was his father, Abdulmanap:

"It was my father. He was with me all the time, you know. He gave me advice. He told me what I have to do, what I don’t have to do, you know. Like, he was my mentor, you know."

Reflecting on his relationship with his father, Nurmagomedov said this about father-son relationships:

"Not too many people have good relationship with fathers, you know. Some of them, they don’t have fathers. Some of them have, but they not good enough. Some of them like father good, but son is bad. Some of them the son is good, like father’s bad… Not too many people have good connection with parents."

In May 2020, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was placed in a medically induced coma due to complications arising from COVID-19. He died on 3 July 2020 at a clinic in Moscow, aged 57.

Khabib Nurmagomedov's last fight took place at UFC 254 in October 2020, where he defeated Justin Gaethie to defend his undisputed lightweight title for the third time. During his octagon interview, 'The Eagle' announced his retirement owing to a promise he made to his mother to not fight without his father in his corner.

Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov talk about his father at 6:05 in the video below:

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Khabib Nurmagomedov on his goal as a promoter

The interview was conducted a day before Eagle FC 47, the promotion’s third outing in the United States. Khabib Nurmagomedov stated that now he’s focused on helping people, including young fighters.

‘The Eagle’ said that thanks to his superstardom, he has an opportunity to help many people around the world. One of the ways he does so is by giving them a chance to compete at his events.

Nurmagomedov stated that Eagle FC is his platform to give other fighters opportunities and help them. Although the card included some big names and former champions, the Dagestani admitted that he was more excited about the undercard as it was full of hungry, young fighters, and he could relate to them.

Khabib Nurmagomedov said:

"And you know, this is one of my platform, where I give people opportunity and help, you know? And tomorrow night here is gonna compete, not only like couple big stars, former champions, and in the undercard we have a lot of young, hungry guys, you know? And I'm more exciting about them, because I know what they feel."