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UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov has taken to his official social media account to reflect on his recovery from knee surgery back in 2015.
'The Eagle' took to his Instagram account and posted a video of him shadowboxing whilst jogging on a treadmill. Nurmagomedov also added a caption to the video that read as follows:
“It was 2015, I was returning from knee surgery, only hunger pushes people.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov faced several challenges in 2014 and 2015
Khabib Nurmagomedov dealt with injury issues throughout his career, but has been lauded by the large majority of fans and experts for consistently overcoming the injuries and returning to action better than ever.
The 2014 to 2015 time period is regarded as one of the toughest times of Nurmagomedov’s MMA career, as he suffered knee injuries on more than one occasion.
After defeating Rafael dos Anjos via unanimous decision in April of 2014, Nurmagomedov was reportedly set to face Donald ‘Cowboy’ Cerrone at UFC 178 in September of the same year. However, Nurmagomedov suffered a knee injury, forcing him to withdraw from the fight.
The Nurmagomedov vs. Cerrone matchup was then rebooked to take place at UFC 187 in May of 2015, but the fight fell apart once again because Nurmagomedov reinjured his knee.
The Russian was then set to face Tony Ferguson at the TUF (The Ultimate Fighter) 22 finale event in December of 2015. Unfortunately, he suffered yet another injury that left him with no choice but to withdraw from the fight.
Khabib Nurmagomedov displayed true mental fortitude during his injuries and recovery
Khabib Nurmagomedov has faced knee issues for the better part of his time in the UFC. Be it injuries or minor functional issues at the highest levels of MMA, Nurmagomedov’s challenging training routines have often served him as a double-edged sword.
On the one hand, the intense training routines made Nurmagomedov incredibly tough and highly skilled. On the other hand, they’ve resulted in 'The Eagle' having to time and again deal with injury issues.
Khabib faced several challenges after his fight against Rafael dos Anjos in April 2014, and spent all of 2015 fighting to recover and return to the Octagon.
In fact, the video that Nurmagomedov has now posted on his Instagram page is said to be one that was recorded before his fight against Tony Ferguson in December 2015.
The aforementioned Nurmagomedov vs. Ferguson fight never came to fruition, neither in December of 2015 nor after that. Both fighters were, on multiple occasions, booked to face each other, but the fight fell through each time due to injury/travel restriction issues.
Khabib Nurmagomedov last competed at UFC 254 in October of this year, successfully defending his UFC lightweight title via second-round submission against Justin Gaethje.
Nurmagomedov then announced his retirement from MMA, but the UFC is yet to strip him of the lightweight title. Furthermore, Nurmagomedov’s manager Ali Abdelaziz, as well as UFC President Dana White, have suggested that the legendary Russian fighter might return to the sport for one more fight to take his MMA record to 30-0.
