Khabib compared the life of a UFC fighter to prison. But he misses wrestling

In October it will be one year since Khabib Nurmagomedov announced the end of his wrestling career. The UFC boss persuaded him for a long time, but in vain. Now the undefeated fighter has spoken out about life as a UFC fighter and how he misses fighting.

Khabib Nurmagomedov had his last fight last October. After defeating Justin Gaethje, he laid down the gloves in the middle of the octagon and announced the end of his career.

Now, he has taken to the media to relieve himself by comparing his sporting life as a UFC fighter to life in prison.

“I’m now living the life of a regular person, not a professional athlete. What’s the difference? The life of an athlete is similar to the life of a prisoner. Every day you have to do the same thing, train, rest, train and rest again. Once you slow down, you are no longer a champion,” Khabib let slip.

“At the end of my career, in a way, I was released from this prison. I miss almost everything, I miss the competition and the spirit of wrestling, the environment of combat sports itself… It‘s an addiction that you can’t get rid of,” continued the now former UFC lightweight champion.

But he explains everything by the fact that he has spent his whole life in the combat sports environment. That’s also why sometimes he just wants to get in the octagon and fight someone. But he doesn’t regret his end. If he hadn’t made that decision now, he would have had to face it later anyway.

“Only time will tell if it was the right time to quit. We can still speculate that I could have fought this or that fighter. There will always be new wrestlers, new champions. Much younger, much hungrier,” Nurmagomedov is clear.

So finishing at the right time is important, he says. Money, he says, is not the issue. The richest man, he says, is the one who is self-sufficient, conciliatory and has his head and thoughts in order. It is not important to live a fancy life and have millions.

Khabib then surprised the journalists at the end when he said that being the UFC champion was nothing special: “Of course it’s the absolute top, but I didn’t feel any great satisfaction. I didn’t feel what I expected. I expected it to be fulfilling, but it didn’t happen.”

Source: MMA Fighting