One of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time, to this day fans and experts, continue to believe that Khabib Nurmagomedov retired too early and in the prime of his career.

One of the greatest Mixed Martial Artists of all time, to this day fans and experts, continue to believe that Khabib Nurmagomedov retired too early and in the prime of his career.

As a result, the great UFC lightweight champion is almost always enquired about a potential comeback from retirement despite always swearing that he wants to stay retired and has no reason to go back on his initial plans. Given that the word retirement is hardly ever final in combat sports and some of the biggest and most prestigious fighters have worked their way back, Nurmagomedov is different in the sense that he is thoroughly resolute in his decision — and he admits that he doesn’t really miss the sport since hanging up his gloves in late 2020.

“Honestly no [I don’t miss it],” Nurmagomedov told The Muslim Money Guys podcast. “When I miss something like competition, I go to the gym and wrestle, grapple, train. I spend my energy there. Like comeback? Go to the cage? No, I don’t miss it.

“Because all my life, it was on my hands, not inside my heart. It was never inside my heart. Of course, I like it, you have to love what you’re doing. I was a very big fan of sports because my goal was to become the best, to become the champion like everybody has to do. But when I’m finished, I’m finished.”

Quite often, fighters who decide to retire find it extremely hard to stay retired because of the thirst for competition, the adrenaline pump, the money that comes along with the biggest events in the world, or even the desire to improve their legacies in the sport.

That is why cases of fighters hanging up their shoes are extremely rare. Nurmagomedov was an exception in that sense when he decided to call it quits after moving to 29-0 in his career following a successful defense of the UFC lightweight title with a submission win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254.

The 34-year-old has reiterated that as soon as he decided to announce his retirement and relinquish his title, he was completely satisfied with everything that he had achieved and accomplished and it was that security that left him without the deep longing inside him to compete again.

“It’s easy. It’s very easy [to walk away],” Nurmagomedov added. “If it’s inside your heart, to leave this alone it’s very hard. It was inside my heart. Now finished, I go do other things.”