Khabib Nurmagomedov closed 2019 with the affirmation that he deserves to be the face of the UFC at this time. But ‘The Eagle’ did not force it to keep flying high for a long time.
Khabib began to skyrocket after defeating Conor McGregor in October 2018. The victory opened the eyes of the world that Khabib is a new face that represents the UFC.
Before winning against McGregor, Khabib was known as a great fighter but had difficulty getting the chance to soar. After he got a title fight against Al Iaquinta, and finally continued the success of defending the title against McGregor, Khabib suddenly became hunted by other UFC fighters.
Khabib seems to be a shortcut for those who want to gain fame in a short time. The UFC lightweight class belt and Khabib’s charm are reasons that are hard to resist for other fighters to try to offer a challenge.
Khabib also did not seem to care and was not the type of fighter who chose to avoid the opponent. He will face any fighter who must be faced according to the ranks and wishes of the UFC.
Dustin Poirier who became the only opponent in 2019 has felt the greatness of Khabib. Although Poirier had time to lock the neck, overall Khabib dominated the fight.
Khabib is too solid to fight in ground fighting. He has powerful horses and various locking techniques. In terms of standing fighting, Khabib also remained competitive and could provide resistance.
Khabib UFC’s New Face
If McGregor successfully lifts the UFC through trash talk and arrogant characteristics, Khabib is a new face of the UFC with a far different picture.
Khabib does not like trash talk and bad-mouthing opponents, especially attacking things that are personal.
For Khabib the duel in the octagon is indeed about determining who is stronger, but everything is only within the limits of the sport side.
This was proven in the match against Poirier. Khabib volunteered to join Poirier T-shirts which were eventually sold for charity funds that were being initiated by Poirier.
For Khabib the fight against McGregor is not the face of his true self. He never lost his emotional control, but McGregor finally became an exception because of comments that had crossed the line.
The different character of Khabib from McGregor makes UFC has a new market that was previously untouched. Khabib proves there are still fighters who prefer to talk with martial techniques on the arena than talk big about opponents before the match is staged.
As a UFC champion, Khabib never weighed light opponents to be the next opponents.
Khabib seemed to not want to spend time dealing with opponents who did not have a reputation good enough to exchange blows with him.
Because of this Khabib opened the door wide for Tony Ferguson, who will be an opponent in April 2020. Ferguson has recorded 12 consecutive wins, as does Khabib at the UFC. The note made Khabib stressed that Ferguson was an opponent who deserved the opportunity to fight for the title.
Khabib also briefly submitted a duel against Georges St-Pierre who had retired from the UFC. GSP is the protagonist at UFC but the duel has never entered a serious stage.
Seeing the signs of Khabib who have never avoided the opponent, it is in line with Khabib’s desire to retire from the UFC when he was still in the top position.
Khabib insisted there would always be a reason to stay in the UFC arena, namely money. However, Khabib is more focused on aspects of sports.
If Khabib judged that there were no opponents who made his fighting desire flare up, Khabib considered it was the right time for him to resign.
Khabib’s decision to resign quickly will indeed be disappointing for some people. But at the same time, people will understand that ‘The Eagle’ will get bored flying high if there are no qualified opponents.
