Donald Trump praises Khabib Nurmagomedov – “I thought he was a fantastic fighter!”

Khabib Nurmagomedov is undoubtedly among the most well-known MMA fighters in the world. Considered the greatest lightweight ever to set foot in the UFC octagon, the grappling savant has no dearth of admirers. Given his incredible achievements in the cage, ’The Eagle’ recently received high praise from former US President Donald Trump. 

In an exclusive interview with Jim Norton and Matt Serra for UFC Unfiltered, Trump discussed Nurmagomedov’s fighting career. Revealing that he once asked UFC president Dana White if the Dagestani grappling phenom would ever return to competition, Trump said:

“I think Khabib was great, and it looks like he probably doesn’t come back, but I asked Dana last night, ‘Where is Khabib? Are you going to get him to come back?’ I thought he was a seriously good fighter.” 

When Norton pointed out that Khabib Nurmagomedov promised his mother that he would never fight again, Trump added: 

“Well when his father died, he had something, but I thought he was a fantastic fighter.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from MMA after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in October 2020.  ‘The Eagle’ successfully defended his belt for the third time via second-round submission and used the post-fight octagon interview to inform his fans of his decision to call it a career.  

Despite the consensus that he walked away in his prime, Nurmagomedov’s dominance was recognized via induction into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2022.

Justin Gaethje outlines plan to avenge his loss to Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 254

Justin Gaethje recently revealed how he plans to avenge his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov by defeating his prodigy. 

‘The HIghlight’ faced ‘The Eagle’ at UFC 254 in a lightweight title unification bout. Despite being known as the hardest-hitting lightweight, Gaethje was put to sleep by Nurmagomedov’s triangle choke in the second round of their bout. In the aftermath, Khabib Nurmagomedov laid down his gloves and announced his retirement. 

Charles Oliveira soon claimed the 155-pound title and defended it once before being stripped due to missing weight against Gaethje at UFC 274. The Brazilian then lost the title to Nurmagomedov’s childhood friend and training partner Islam Makhachev at UFC 280. 

With an Oliveira-Makhachev title rematch looming, Justin Gaethje is looking forward to facing the Dagestani grappling phenom. Hoping to avenge his loss against Khabib Nurmagomedov by defeating Makhachev, ‘The Highlight’ recently reiterated his intention to go for gold.  In a recent interview with TMZ Sports, he said:

“Khabib beat me. Islam is kind of his prodigy. So, I can kind of get that fight back a little bit. You know he [Makhachev] beat Oliveira. So, I can certainly get a two-for-one deal on that one.”