Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov[a] (born 20 September 1988) is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist who competed in the Lightweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

[8] Nurmagomedov is widely considered to be among the greatest mixed martial artists of all time,[9][10][11][12][13] and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on June 30, 2022.

[22] Khabib Abdulmanapovich Nurmagomedov was born to an Avar family on 20 September 1988 in the village of Sildi in the Tsumadinsky District of the Dagestan ASSR, an autonomous republic within the Russian SFSR, Soviet Union.

[31] A decorated athlete and a veteran of the Soviet Army, Abdulmanap had also wrestled from an early age, before undergoing training in judo and sambo in the military.

[32] Abdulmanap dedicated his life to coaching the youth in Dagestan, in hopes of offering an alternative to the Islamic extremism common to the region.

[36] Khabib said that, along with his father, three athletes who inspired him were the American boxers Muhammad Ali and Mike Tyson and the Brazilian footballer Ronaldo Nazário.

These included a first-round armbar finish of future Bellator title challenger Shahbulat Shamhalaev, which marked his M-1 Global debut.

A 16–0 record in the regional circuits of Russia and Ukraine generated interest from the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in signing Nurmagomedov.

[43] Nurmagomedov next defeated Gleison Tibau on 7 July 2012, at UFC 148 via unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30–27.

He was given two hours to cut to the lightweight maximum of 156 pounds but elected instead to surrender a percentage of his fight purse to Trujillo and the bout was contested at a catchweight.

[71] Nurmagomedov voiced his displeasure on social media, calling Alvarez a "bullshit champ" for refusing the fight and opting for a bout with McGregor instead,[72] accusing the UFC of being a "freak show".

[74] Nurmagomedov dominated the fight and was heard telling Dana White to give him a title shot as he mauled Johnson, winning via submission in the third round.

[83][84] On 6 April, Holloway was pulled from the fight after the New York State Athletic Commission (NYSAC) declared him unfit to compete due to extreme weight cutting, and replaced by Al Iaquinta.

Iaquinta's inclusion in the fight was controversial: the UFC's first choice to replace Holloway, Anthony Pettis, weighed in 0.2 pounds over the championship limit of 155 pounds and did not choose to re-weigh, and its second choice, Paul Felder, was rejected by NYSAC because he was not in the UFC's rankings at the time of the fight.

[90] After the contest, Nurmagomedov scaled the Octagon and tried to attack McGregor's teammate Dillon Danis, which resulted in a brawl between the two teams.

[97] Nurmagomedov's payment for the fight was withheld by the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) as a result, pending an investigation into his actions.

Both Nurmagomedov and McGregor received indefinite bans until an official hearing would determine the disciplinary outcome of the post-fight brawl.

[104] In the first fight of his new deal, Nurmagomedov made the second defence of his title against interim lightweight champion Dustin Poirier on 7 September 2019 in the main event at UFC 242.

Gaethje won the fight by fifth–round TKO, thus ending Ferguson's win streak and securing himself a shot at the undisputed title against Nurmagomedov.

[113][114][115] Nurmagomedov won the fight via technical submission with a triangle choke in the second round to defend and re-unify the UFC Lightweight Championship.

[118] Daniel Cormier said in an episode of DC & Helwani, after the fight, that Khabib had said he chose the triangle choke instead of an arm bar in order to prevent Gaethje from being injured.

[133] MMA Commentator Joe Rogan, a black belt in both 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu and Brazilian jiu-jitsu, said of Nurmagomedov, “He’s the most terrifying lightweight contender in the world,” and “he’s just on such another level [of grappling] that the odds of beating him drop significantly after the first minute-and-a-half.”[134] UFC referee Herb Dean stated Nurmagomedov constantly talked to his opponents during fights.

[135] As part of his Dagestani Avar culture, Nurmagomedov frequently wore a papakha hat after fights and during promotional events.

[137] He is an avid football fan and supporter of the clubs Anzhi Makhachkala, Galatasaray, Real Madrid and Liverpool, as well as the Russia national team.

[31][138][139] In August 2021, there was speculation that Nurmagomedov had signed a professional football contract with third tier Russian side Legion Dynamo after he was seen shaking hands with the players and manager.

[145] In October 2020, The Guardian stated that Nurmagomedov is the second-most-popular Muslim athlete in the world, behind only the Egyptian footballer Mohamed Salah.

[22][147] In October 2020, Nurmagomedov said of the President of France Emmanuel Macron in the wake of the murder of Samuel Paty "May the Almighty disfigure the face of this creature and all its followers, who, under the slogan of freedom of speech, offend the feelings of more than one and a half billion Muslim believers.

Nurmagomedov added: "We are Muslims, we love our Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) more than our mothers, fathers, children, wives and all other people close to our hearts.

[22] Nurmagomedov has also hosted a training seminar at Fight Club Akhmat which is funded by Head of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Kadyrov, who has received criticism for his government's human rights abuses.

[161][162] In May 2020, Nurmagomedov's father and long-time trainer Abdulmanap was placed in a medically induced coma after contracting COVID-19 following a heart surgery.