In September 2019, he was named by the Russian Book of Records as the most successful combat sambo coach in the country.

[1] He started his sporting career with freestyle wrestling, which he, like many Dagestani children, had practiced from a young age.

[2] His first big success as a coach came when his brother, Nurmagomed Nurmagomedov, won at the World Sambo Championship for Ukraine's national team in 1992.

Having been taken to Moscow in early May on a private jet, his condition rapidly worsened, and he died there on 3 July 2020, from COVID complications.

[7] Following his death, his son Khabib announced his retirement from mixed martial arts after his victory over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, a fight which he dedicated to the memory of his father.