When you’re talking about the GOAT of MMA, a few names come to mind. Up here north of the border, Georges St. Pierre is often at the tip of the tongue, while other names like Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, and legends like Randy Couture, Matt Hughes and Fedor Emelianko also may come up.
Another name that you can’t possibly leave out of this conversation is Khabib Nurmagomedov; even if you struggle to say his name. The Russian cemented his place among the all-time greats with his 29th victory, capping off an unblemished record of 29-0 and then promptly retiring from the sport.
How dominant was he exactly? This should put it into perspective.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Khabib is 29-0 and was never knocked down or cut in a professional MMA contest.<br><br>You literally can't say that about any other UFC champion ever.</p>— Luke Thomas (@lthomasnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/lthomasnews/status/1320113728780730368?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
He didn’t just win, he destroyed.
The latest to fall by his hand was Justin Gaethje, who many thought may present the biggest competition to Khabib to date. That turned out to be no problem for Khabib as soon as the fight went to the ground, putting Gaethje to sleep in the 2nd round.
To make the victory even more impressive, it turns out Khabib wasn’t just battling a professional MMA fighter, he was also battling a major foot injury.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"We're lucky we got to see him fight tonight."<br><br>"He is one of the toughest human beings on the planet." <a href="https://twitter.com/danawhite?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@DanaWhite</a> pays tribute to <a href="https://twitter.com/TeamKhabib?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@TeamKhabib</a> after he bows out at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC254?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC254</a>. <a href="https://t.co/ika2TaD7VK">pic.twitter.com/ika2TaD7VK</a></p>— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) <a href="https://twitter.com/btsportufc/status/1320112043907842050?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 24, 2020</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Two broken toes and a broken bone in his foot, or at least Dana White believes it’s “something like that.” Watching the fight, you certainly couldn’t tell that Khabib was hobbled, even if he did lose the 1st round according to the judges and not many fans.
It's unclear if this injury has anything to do with Khabib not seeming to want to take it to the ground in the 1st round, but he took full advantage when it did go there in the 2nd.
Enjoy the freedom of retirement, Khabib. One of the all-time greats.
