That Khabib Nurmagomedov is a soccer fan is no secret. The Dagestani fighter is a big fan of Real Madrid – he has been to the Bernabeu several times – and has been seen at numerous events of the beautiful game such as this year’s Champions League final. Therefore, his recent statements in an interview with ‘World Summit Sports’, where he revealed that his real childhood dream was not to be a professional in MMA, but a soccer player, are not surprising.
Khabib ended up opting for mixed martial arts because his father Abdulmanap taught in Dagestan, so he had everything at hand if he wanted to dedicate himself to that sport. In fact, the results speak for themselves, as ‘The Eagle’ is one of the best MMA fighters ever. However, he will always have a thorn in his side.
I have watched football all my life and this sport is still my priority
“I have watched football all my life and this sport is still my priority. As a youngster, my dream was to be a footballer… And unintentionally I became a fighter because of the place where I was born, and because my father was a coach. I’m joking, it wasn’t by chance, but I love football,” he said
Khabib maintains a relationship with footballers such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Andres Iniesta, and is more excited to participate in events with such superstars than in his own discipline. However, as he says, nothing was by chance, because if there is one thing that characterizes Dagestan, it is its ability to export great MMA fighters, and a large part of the blame lies with Abdulmanap.
‘The Eagle’s father was the mentor of most of the successful fighters from this Caucasus region, and turned his own son into a UFC lightweight champion. However, Abdulmanap died in 2020 from complications with Covid-19, prompting Khabib’s premature retirement with a record of 29-0. He promised his mother that he would not step into the octagon without his father by his side, and he kept his word.
Now he is the one who trains the other fighters and accompanies them around the world so that Dagestan has more and more champions, which he sees as a way of taking over from his father and continuing the mission he started. However, he will always remember soccer, and that childhood dream of having had the skills to use cleats instead of gloves
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