Watch: When Khabib Nurmagomedov was caught laughing at homeless people doing push-ups for money

Khabib Nurmagomedov has widely been regarded as one of the most humble fighters inside and outside the octagon. 'The Eagle' was quite respectful towards his opponents and refrained from indulging in trash-talking throughout his career. While his arch rival Conor McGregor is considered the benchmark for notoriety in MMA, Nurmagomedov is thought by many to be on the opposite end of the spectrum.

However, sometimes, even the best among us do things least expected of them. The same thing happened with Khabib Nurmagomedov back in 2018. The Dagestani faced severe criticism for sharing a video showing his cousin offering money to homeless men to do push-ups.

'The Eagle' came under fire as he was heard laughing in the background while recording a video of the homeless men doing push-ups. Khabib Nurmagomedov initially shared the video on his Instagram account but later deleted it following backlash from fans and several members of the MMA community.

The clip shows Nurmagomedov’s cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov, paying homeless men to do push-ups on the street in New York. Abubakar was also seen jokingly moving into a fighting stance as the homeless man walked up to him. Fighters and fans condemned the incident, and some were shocked as to how such a religious man could indulge in such disrespectful behavior.

Watch the video below:

What are your thoughts on this video posted by Khabib of him and his cousin paying homeless people to do press ups for money... 🤔Personally we feel it's disgusting and degrading.. Especially them constantly laughing at those involved.. 😡 pic.twitter.com/msE5i9ureE

— The MMA Bible (@TheMMABible) August 6, 2018

UFC middleweight Jack Hermansson came down strong on Khabib Nurmagomedov following the incident. He said Nurmagomedov's actions took away the dignity of the homeless man, and there's nothing funny about watching a man doing push-ups.

Disgusting behaviour. People may think this is harmless but this is taking away dignety from a person that is in a struggle and you laugh about it. He see people doing pushups everyday without laughing. But he thinks it is funny because there is a poor homeless man?!?!

— jack hermansson (@jackthejokermma) August 7, 2018

It pains my heart to see a man who talks about God all the time, act like this!

— Cindy Dandois (@DandoisCindy) August 7, 2018

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Khabib Nurmagomedov's performance at UFC 229 let the controversy fade away

Fortunately for Khabib Nurmagomedov, all the controversy surrounding the incident faded as he went on to pick up the biggest win of his career later that year at UFC 229. Nurmagomedov fought his arch-rival McGregor in the highest-selling pay-per-view in UFC history and put up a masterful performance on the night.

'The Eagle' forced the Irishman to submit in the fourth round after dominating him throughout the fight. After winning the bout, Nurmagomedov infamously climbed atop the cage and leaped into McGregor's corner, causing an all-out brawl at UFC 229. Nurmagomedov's teammates jumped inside the octagon and traded blows with an outnumbered Conor McGregor.