Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov took to social media and shared a heartfelt post, paying tribute to his father. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was an integral part of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s life and career and left a gaping hole with his demise. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov passed away last year due to complications arising from COVID-19.

His passing left the entire MMA community in shambles, as Abdulmanap was a guiding beacon for fighters hailing from Dagestan. Chiefly, he was the lead trainer of ‘The Eagle’ alongside Javier Mendez and brought Khabib Nurmagomedov to greatness.

The former champion oftentimes pays homage to his father and speaks out on missing him.

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‘The Eagle’ last fought back at UFC 254 where he defeated Justin Gaethje via submission to move to 29-0. This was the first fight of his MMA career wherein he didn’t have Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s guidance and counsel. What’s more, his dominant win was capped off by an emotional retirement speech that was spurred on by his father’s death.

Although ‘The Eagle’ retired back in October 2020, the UFC still listed him as the undisputed lightweight champion. In fact, UFC President Dana White put together several sit-downs in order to convince Khabib Nurmagomedov to make a comeback for one more fight.

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However, as of last week, Nurmagomedov finalized that he’s well and truly retired and the division will move forward without him. In fact, Charles Oliveira and Michael Chandler were booked to fight for the vacant belt shortly thereafter. The lightweight division will have a new champion for the first time since April 7, 2018.

‘The Eagle’ has now moved his attention towards coaching and wants to bring the next wave of Dagestani fighters to championships. Moreover, Khabib Nurmagomedov is now keen to pick up the ‘Coach of the Year’ honors as his new challenge. Given his tutelage of fighters like Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov, it’s highly likely that he will follow in his father’s footsteps.