Summary
- Khabib Nurmagomedov will not coach MMA going forward
- Khabib won the honor of being the 2022 MMA Coach of the Year
- Islam Makhachev might have to fight in Australia without Khabib in his corner
When UFC lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA, he immediately took up the role of being a coach for his Dagestani teammates and partnered with his old AKA coach Javier Mendez to train multiple fighters in the UFC and Bellator.
Khabib did a fantastic job in 2022 as coach as his MMA students went on to give him a 19-2 record in 2022. His coaching achievements include two belts in two organizations with Usman Nurmagomedov winning the lightweight title in Bellator and Islam Makhachev winning the lightweight title in the UFC.
Khabib along with coach Javier Mendez shared honours to win the 2022 MMA coach of the year. MMA fans were happy to see Khabib take on the senior coaching role as they felt he was stepping into the shoes of his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and would continue to be involved with MMA for a long time.
Khabib took to Instagram and posted a cryptic post in his native language wishing his team the very best. Russian media outlets claim that Khabib has decided to retire from MMA coaching as he wants to be spending more time with his family in 2023.
Khabib has had a very hectic schedule in 2022 with his MMA coaching duties and business responsibilities. From his post, it does not appear that Khabib is taking a break from MMA coaching but is retiring from MMA coaching, which will be a big blow to a lot of Dagestani fighters who have high regard for ‘The Eagle’s fight acumen.
Islam Makhachev who beat Charles Oliveira is set to make his first title defence at UFC 284 in Australia when featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski moves up a weight class to challenge Islam. MMA fans believe this is going to be the biggest test of Islam’s career so far and it is now unlikely that Islam will have Khabib in his corner for this key fight.
Khabib was the one who advised Islam to call out Volkanovski after he won the UFC lightweight belt as Islam is on a quest to be rated as the best pound for pound fighter in the world. Khabib is yet to confirm if he will corner or not corner Islam Makhachev at UFC 284.
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