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UFC Lightweight Champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is often seen wearing a white, woolly hat which resembles a wig. He wears that headgear to almost every weigh-in, every face-off, and every walk-in to a UFC fight. The hat is almost synonymous to Khabib Nurmagomedov's fighting look.
But what does the hat signify? Is it just a fashion statement or does it mean something more to 'The Eagle'?
Let's find out...
The significance of Khabib Nurmagomedov's hat
The wig-like fur hat that Khabib Nurmagomedov wears everywhere is called a Papakha, pronounced puh-pah-hah. He dons it as a tribute to his homeland and native country, Dagestan.
People hailing from the Caucasus region of Eastern Europe and Western Asia traditionally wear Papakhas made of Karakul sheep skin wool. In that region, a person's headgear is considered to be a very important part of his identity.
The word Papakha is taken from a Turkish word papaq meaning 'hat', used in the Azerbaijani region.
Khabib Nurmagomedov on why he wears a Papakha
Khabib Nurmagomedov explained last year why he dons a Papakha to every important event of his career. Needless to say, it is to honor his motherland and represent his culture (Via Mirror.co.uk):
"It’s an honor for me to represent my traditional headgear around the world, my culture, my history because Dagestan has a very big history, a very big culture. It’s an honor for me because I have opportunity. A lot of people know me and I want people know where I am from and I want to show people Dagestan, Dagestan culture, Dagestan history because they have very big history in Dagestan and if I have opportunity why not?"
Khabib Nurmagomedov revealed that it was his friends who suggested to him to start wearing the headgear. He did not wear it in the earlier fights of his career, but started to don it once he was in UFC:
"My friends said, maybe you want to wear papakha because this is our culture and because the UFC is a very big stage and a very big platform. You can show our culture around the world."
Khabib Nurmagomedov's plan was to take his Dagestani culture and hold it up in front of the world. With his undefeated streak in UFC, he thinks his plan is working.
Khabib announced his retirement in October after fighting and submitting Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. It is still unclear whether he will remain retired or make a return to UFC.
