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Khabib Nurmagomedov received a lot of love from the Abu Dhabi crowd at the UFC 280 press conference. The pride of Dagestan and undefeated UFC legend was at the press conference to support his fellow countryman and teammate Islam Makhachev.
Nurmagomedov put out a tweet expressing humility as the roaring crowd chanted his name while he took a video of them. The tweet read:
Almost exactly a year ago, 'The Eagle' defended his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, in Abu Dhabi. Following his win, Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from the sport with a stellar record of 29-0. He was extremely emotional after winning the bout, expressing grief at the loss of his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
Although he retired from active competition, Khabib Nurmagomedov took on the role of a coach and mentor to the roster of MMA fighters at the American Kickboxing Academy. He touted Islam Makhachev as being the next lightweight champion.
Here's a video from ESPN MMA showing 'The Eagle' coaching at AKA:
Apart from coaching, 'The Eagle' also started his own fight promotion called EagleFC.
Khabib Nurmagomedov will be in Islam Makhachev's corner in his fight against Charles Oliviera in the main event of UFC 280. He will also be in No. 5-ranked welterweight Belal Muhammad's corner in his fight against No. 8-ranked welterweight Sean Brady.
Will Khabib Nurmagomedov return to fighting if Makhachev loses to Oliviera?
In an interview with Brett Okamoto a couple of months ago, Khabib Nurmagomedov said the following about the fight between 'do Bronx' and Makhachev:
"When we see how the match [will go] with Charles Oliviera, I don't think he can do something with Islam on the ground. And, of course, Islam is very good in his stand-up too. Last couple of years, people didn't even touch him - they don't even touch him. He fought with Drew Dober, he fight with all these guys - they [are] good strikers. You know, they didn't even touch him, even one time, two times. Islam dominated all of them and in the last eleven months, he finished all his opponents. This will be fair, if Islam fights with Charles for the vacant title."
In the same interview, when Okamoto asked Nurmagomedov if he would return to face Oliviera if Islam lost to him, he said the following:
"If Charles wins [over] Islam, we have to give him credit. [If Charles wins] he's going to be the undisputed UFC lightweight champion. Right now, I believe he is the champion."
Khabib Nurmagomedov said that he would feel bad if Makhachev lost to Oliviera, but he affirmed that he wouldn't come back asking fans, and Daniel Cormier in particular, to "leave him alone".
Here's the full interview of 'The Eagle' with Brett Okamoto on ESPN MMA:
