Roy Jones Jr. Believes Khabib Nurmagomedov Made The Right Decision By Retiring From MMA

Khabib Nurmagomedov will always be regarded as one of the best UFC fighters to have competed in the MMA world. Khabib ended his career after his match against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in 2020.

Since then there had been a lot of speculation regarding him returning to the UFC as he was still undefeated, with many believing he would come back to make his record an impressive 30-0. However, Dana White had confirmed back in March that the Russian fighter has retired for good

While speaking to RT Sport MMA, legendary boxer Roy Jones Jr. talked about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s retirement from the UFC. He stated that Khabib has not been the same since the death of his father and that Khabib felt very lonely while competing in the UFC.

Roy Jones Jr. believed that Khabib Nurmagomedov did the best thing by retiring from MMA as he could have gotten killed as he’d compete only half-heartedly after the death of his father.

“I mean, for him, it’s a whole different game. For him, it was something that him and his father shared. When he lost his father and tried to do it without his father, he probably felt very lonely and very different. So, for him, without his dad, half is gone anyway. So, he can’t get the full thing, why go in there? Because this is; people are not there to worry about taking it easy on him because he’s not feeling so good. They’re out there to hurt him.

Fighting’s the hurt sport, and he knows that. So, if he feels like half of him is there, half of him is not; he should never go back in the ring. Because you can go in there half of you and that could get you killed. So, I totally understand and respect what he did; totally understand and respect it.”

Khabib had previously stated that he has no interest in continuing his career for money fights. Since his retirement he has been focused on his own fighting promotion Eagle Fighting Championship, but won’t be competing there. However, it is to be noted that Khabib does miss fighting in the UFC as well.