Khabib Nurmagomedov's coach provides update on his fighting future after retirement

Khabib Nurmagomedov will most likely never fight again as he is “very much settled as a coach”, his longtime trainer has said.

The former UFC lightweight champion has been retired since beating Justin Gaethje in 2020.

He had previously flirted with the idea of making a comeback – a few months after retiring – when he had a meeting with Dana White after UFC 257.

But that never went anywhere as he spends most of his time these days teaching wrestling classes at American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California.

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And according to his coach Javier Mendez, there is no chance of him ever coming back at all.

“No [he’s not fighting again], he’s looked at it,” he said on The MMA Hour per MMA Fighting. “He’s looked at when the fighters come out and get introduced by Bruce Buffer and he says ‘I love this thing’ but he’s very much settled as a coach and making sure that all his brothers - they’re not brothers but to him they’re brothers - that they all get the best opportunity to win a title.

“A lot of them are going to win titles. You’ll see. There’s going to be a lot of people from Abdulmanap’s gym that will win titles.

“As a coach, I would say he compares more to his father than he does me. He’s more his father’s student than he is mine. He has added some of my things that I’ve instilled in him but it’s more like 85 percent father, 15 percent me.

"That’s how great an influence his father had on him. A great influence.

“I would say I added about 15 percent. He definitely has me in him, too, but you can’t deny his father. He is definitely his father’s son.”

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