"If you're man, you have to be strong" - Khabib Nurmagomedov gives his sons 'no choice' on this one thing

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has been retired for almost three years now, and ‘The Eagle’ has always resisted calls for him to return.

Despite this, Khabib is still one of the pre-eminent stars in the UFC right now, and whenever he talks, it garners plenty of attention.

This week has seen Khabib Nurmagomedov make an appearance on the PBD Podcast with influencer Patrick Bet-David. In a revealing interview, fans were treated to an insight into the mind of ‘The Eagle’, and he had a number of fascinating things to say.

One anecdote involved him answering a question about his sons, whether he’d like them to follow in his footsteps, and whether he’d be happy for them to step back from fighting if he were to not be there.

Famously, Khabib Nurmagomedov found himself in this situation after his father Abdulmanap passed away in 2020. In that case, ‘The Eagle’ chose to hang up his gloves, respecting the wishes of his mother.

Khabib had the following to say:

“Honestly, I’m gonna let him [his son] choose what he wants...not because in my house, we have freedom of speech between son and father...I’m still boss! But I’m gonna let him choose, about professional life, I’m not gonna force him at all...I don’t know what my son is gonna choose. If he says I wanna be like you, I wanna be world champion, this is your choice...I’m gonna help him, but I’d never push him to become professional...but he has no choice about one thing. He is a man and he’s gonna train. He has to be strong. Zero complaint. He has no choice, because if you’re a man, you have to be strong.”

Watch Khabib discuss this below.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov: What did 'The Eagle' say about Sean O’Malley?

During his fighting career, Khabib Nurmagomedov was definitely one of the UFC’s poster-boys.

This weekend saw a new poster-boy for the promotion crowned, when Sean O’Malley won the bantamweight title from Aljamain Sterling.

Interestingly, Khabib was one of the people to correctly predict the rise of ‘Sugar’, according to filmmaker Will Harris.

Harris went on record on the Joe Rogan Experience to state that when he discussed O’Malley with ‘The Eagle’ during his Hall of Fame induction in 2021, the Dagestani stated that ‘Sugar’ was “that guy.”