After his dominating submission of Justin Gaethje in the second round of the main event of UFC 254, Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from the sport in the middle of the octagon on Saturday.
— UFC (@ufc) October 24, 2020
"Today, I want to say it was my last fight. ... If I give my word, I have to follow this."
— ESPN (@espn) October 24, 2020
Khabib Nurmagomedov announces his retirement after #UFC254 pic.twitter.com/Nidgf7iAMA
He went on to thank many people in the UFC, including former owner Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC President Dana White. He also acknowledged his opponent Gaethje, calling him a great fighter and saying he helped him earlier in his career.
The only request he made was to be the pound-for-pound #1 fighter in the world when the UFC rankings come out on Monday. That will be determined by the MMA media that vote on such rankings, but he’ll have a very good chance of de-throning Jon “Bones” Jones from that current spot.
“The Eagle” has conquered every opponent in front of him in his division, and there is no one left to fight at 155 lbs. There have been rumors of a catchweight bout with one of Khabib’s heroes, Georges St. Pierre, but as of now they are just rumors.
Combat sport participants often retire earlier or later than everyone anticipates they should. We’ll see if this holds and for how long, but as of this moment one of the best to ever do it is calling it a career.