Teammate believes Khabib Nurmagomedov won’t even compete in grappling again

Khabib
Nurmagomedov‘s teammate believes the former
Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion will never
compete in any combat sport again.

Zubaira
Tukhugov (20-6) is scheduled to meet former UFC foe Elves
Brenner in a no-gi grappling match at ACBJJ 21 this weekend in
Moscow. Ahead of the matchup, Tukhugov revealed that Nurmagomedov
isn’t very excited about the idea of his return to competition.

Nurmagomedov has been persuading Tukhugov to retire, suggesting
that he just continue training to stay in shape. The latter told
Red Corner MMA: “He laughed and was like, ‘Why do you need this?’
Leave the sport and just train for yourself. He’s been persuading
me to retire for a long time.”

Zubaira Tukhugov on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s future

Nurmagomedov (29-0) retired from mixed martial arts as the
undefeated, undisputed UFC lightweight champion in 2020. Despite
multiple attempts by Dana White to bring him out of retirement,
“The Eagle” has stood firm on his stance.

Tukhugov claims Nurmagomedov trains hard every day, almost like he
is still an active athlete preparing to compete. He believes the
UFC Hall of Famer is still in shape to grapple or fight anyone.
However, Tukhugov is certain that Nurmagomedov won’t end his
retirement for anything, even a grappling match.

“He actually trains every day, twice a day. No matter where he is
and what is going on. He keeps training hard as if he’s getting
ready for something. He is ready to grapple anyone right now, or
even fight. But I’m 99% sure he won’t ever compete again. Based on
our conversations, if he says something, he follows through on it
99% of the time.”

Tukhugov further added that Nurmagomedov would make easy work of
current UFC middleweight champion Sean
Strickland if they were to fight right now.

Zubaira
Tukhugov says Khabib
Nurmagomedov is unlikely to return to any form of combat sports
competition, including grappling, even though he trains every
day.

“He still trains every single day, twice a day. He trains
incredibly hard, almost like he’s preparing for a fight,”… pic.twitter.com/QimVzevlNU— Red
Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA)
July 2, 2026