'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Khabib Nurmagomedov has beaten 29 men in his professional MMA career. However, he has always been respectful to his opponents on most occasions, barring a few. The Russian fighter retired in 2020 after beating Justin Gaethje, a man he respected a lot, via submission.
He spoke about the dilemma of hurting fighters he loved and respected in an interview with RT Sport MMA. He also revealed which fights were the hardest for him to face. The reporter asked him about four fighters, in particular, Edson Barboza, Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier and Al Iaquinta. RT Sport MMA provided the subtitles for the interview, which was originally in Russian.
Khabib Nurmagomedov answered:
"Out of all of them, I think my last opponent. Well, I can point out two of them, Justin Gaethje and Michael Johnson. When I trapped his hand and went for Kimura, I could've broken his arm. I told him to give up two or three times. I was executing the move very carefully, because if you break an arm that way, it will never be the same. So I was very careful, rolling it very slowly and just asked him to give it up."
Khabib Nurmagomedov saw Justin Gaethje's parents in the crowd during their match
Khabib Nurmagomedov then spoke about his UFC 254 title fight with Gaethje and revealed why he didn't want to hurt him that much.
"As for Justin, first I went for his arm, and only then I moved onto the triangle choke. I realized he would not give up and I didn't want to cripple his hand so I went for the triangle choke. His parents were there in attendance, his father, his mother, in the front row. Footage doesn't show it but when I entered the cage, I could see them sitting there and looking at me. So those two guys, I didn't want to hurt too bad."
He showed a lot of respect for Johnson and Gaethje and revealed that UFC fighters can have a humane side. Khabib Nurmagomedov is retired now, but fans would love to see him fight again, as he really is one of the greatest fighters of all time.
Watch the full video here:
