UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov didn’t just beat Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, he did so with a broken foot.
Nurmagomedov defeated Gaethje by second-round submission, putting his challenger to sleep with a triangle choke. As if that feat wasn’t impressive enough on it’s own, he pulled it off with a broken foot.
Speaking at the UFC 254 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White revealed that Nurmagomedov sustained the injury three weeks ahead of the fight, and that he almost didn’t make it into the Octagon with Gaethje.
“Listen, what this guy has been through, we are all lucky that we got to see him fight tonight,” White said about Nurmagomedov. “And I am hearing rumors of other things that I didn’t know about that you guys will hear about when he comes out later. Apparently he was just in the hospital. He broke his foot. Yea, that happened three weeks ago.”
On Monday, Nurmagomedov took to Instagram with some photos that corroborated this comment from White. See them below (h/t MMA Mania):
After defeating Justin Gaethje in the UFC 254 main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov shocked the MMA world by announcing his retirement from MMA.
In his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Jon Anik, the undefeated Russian explained that he’d promised his mother his fight with Gaethje would be his last, citing the death of his father and mentor Abdulmanap as the reason.
“This was my last fight,” a visibly emotional Nurmagomedov said.
“I promised [my mother], it’s going to be my last fight,” Nurmagomedov added. “It was my last fight here. Tuesday, you guys have to put me No. 1 pound-for-pound because I deserve this.”
“Today’s my last fight in the UFC.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov hangs up the gloves with a flawless, 29-0 record. It’s one of the best records in MMA history, if not the best outright. Highlights of his flawless record include triumphs over high-level talents in Gleison Tibau, Thiago Tavares, Abel Trujillo, Pat Healy, Rafael dos Anjos, Michael Johnson, Edson Barboza, Al Iaquinta, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Gaethje.