K. Nurmagomedov announced his retirement in October 2020. Photo: Reproduction/Twitter
Even almost five years after definitively retiring from the octagon and leaving the lightweight title (up to 70,3 kg) vacant, many fans still wonder what direction his career will take. Khabib Nurmagomedov could have taken. For Javier Mendez, head coach of the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) and one of the great minds behind Águia's undefeated record, the fighter could have even ventured into the welterweight division (up to 77,1 kg).
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In an interview for the website 'MMA Junkie' last Thursday (24), Mendez recalled the plans of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Khabib's father and coach, for the final part of his son's career. According to him, the idea of changing divisions had as its main objective to measure forces with Georges St-Pierre.
"As I recall, the conversations Khabib and his father had, and it was in Russian, so it was being interpreted for me. His father always wanted him in the 70,3 kg weight class, doing very well there. In fact, they wanted a historic fight with GSP. His father envisioned GSP and him," the coach stated.
When talking about the former athlete, Mendez was bold in stating that Nurmagomedov's talent could surpass fighters not only at lightweight (up to 70,3 kg), but also at welterweight (up to 77,1 kg) and even middleweight (up to 83,9 kg).
"For me personally, as his coach since 2012, my personal feeling is that this guy could easily have won the lightweight division, which he did, the middleweight division, and the welterweight division. I believe he's very good. He would have 100% won all three of those weight classes in my heart, from what I saw in my eyes," he concluded.
Since retiring, Khabib has dedicated himself to working as a coach at Eagles MMA, the Dagestan Clan's base academy in Russia. He and Javier still share the corner of other athletes, such as Islam makhachev.
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