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Khabib Nurmagomedov has said the toughest fight of his UFC career was against Justin Gaethje. However, not from the competitive aspect of the sport. It was the emotional pressure that made Nurmagomedov's UFC 254 outing much more difficult.
Nurmagomedov lost his father a few months before his scheduled bout opposite Gaethje. He also sustained some injuries ahead of the fight. Although 'The Eagle' outclassed his opponent fairly easily, the mental toll on him in the build-up to the headlining clash was immense.
At an event organized by Islamic charity SKT Welfare, the Dagestani said:
"Even this fight didn't look like it was hard, it was a very tough fight for me versus Justin Gaethje. It was a very emotional day for me when I fought with him. I was injured. There were a lot of problems on my body, on my mind. I think it was a very tough fight and stylistically, he was a very good opponent. Mentally, it was very tough to handle all these things that happened with me before the fight. I think the last fight was the toughest fight of my career."
On fight day, however, Nurmagomedov successfully defended his title for the third time. He choked out Gaethje in the second round of the fight and established himself as the No.1 pound-for-pound fighter in the promotion. After submitting Gaethje, Nurmagomdov announced his retirement from the sport.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov talk about his toughest fight in the video below (1:47:00):
Khabib Nurmagomedov had mumps on his face and broke his thumb two weeks before UFC 254
Khabib Nurmagomedov told his fellow fighter and friend Magomed Ismailov that he was suffering from mumps ahead of his fight against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The Russian's face was swollen to the point where he had to be kept in a hospital's intensive care unit for five days.
When he recovered, the then-UFC lightweight champion broke his thumb two weeks before his scheduled fight. Making sure not to withdraw from the title clash, Khabib Nurmagomedov fought Gaethje with a tape wrapped around his thumb.
Looking incredibly drained on the scale, the 33-year-old also encountered major issues in his effort to make weight for his UFC 254 fight.
