Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov believes that the sport of mixed martial arts has been on a decline in recent times.
During his in-cage career, Khabib amassed an unblemished 29-0 record that includes 13 triumphs inside the Octagon. Among his perfect promotional slate are title defenses against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Just Gaethje. After defeating “The Highlight” for his third successful retention in 2020, “The Eagle” called time on his career.
Since then, though, Khabib has firmly maintained a presence in the sport, largely though the cornering of his teammates and compatriots. That’ll be the case next weekend at UFC 280, when the Russian will look to guide multiple fighters to victory in Abu Dhabi, including lightweight title challenger Islam Makhachev.
Aside from his work at the American Kickboxing Academy, Khabib also owns his very own MMA promotion. After purchasing the Gorilla Fighting Championship (GFC) for $1 million, the UFC legend re-branded the organization, naming it the Eagle Fighting Championship (EFC).
But despite maintaining a prominent role in the sport and looking to grow his own promotion, the Dagestani doesn’t believe that MMA is currently on an upward trajectory.
Khabib: ‘I Think The Flame Has Gone Out A Little’
During a sit-down interview with UFC Russia, Khabib was asked about the belief that mixed martial arts peaked a number of years ago and is now beginning to stagnate with a lack of stars and big-name fights.
While he noted that his view might be skewed by his own personal dwindled passion for competing in the sport, Khabib did suggest that MMA is on the “decline.” However, citing the growth of the UFC in such a short timespan as evidence, the Russian suggested that the MMA leader will have no problem changing the tide in the future.
“Maybe it’s because the flame inside of me went out, but I think there’s been a dip in MMA,” Khabib said. “That’s what I think. I could be wrong. Everyone has their viewpoint. I think the flame went out a little (and) that there was a decline.
“(But) there will always be stars. The UFC’s PR machine is strong. Say what you will, but they’ve created a powerful machine in the last 30 years. They’ll ignite the flame,” Khabib added.
While his passion for lacing the gloves and even watching MMA from home may have dropped, a view into the corners of his compatriots and teammates shows that Khabib has no issue motivating himself to help his fellow AKA-based athletes reach their potential inside the cage.
Well yeah. It was before Khabib retired too.
This. We’ve talked about the Devolution of MMA on here for a while.
But it is very interesting for Khabib to agree here
Does he mean a decline in talent from ufc 1 until today ?
According to my quick reading he is talking about a lack of stars and big name fights in today’s game.
For example what I’ve been saying, UFC can’t even book their HW and LHW Champs in Jones and Francis and so they become inactive which helps no one including themselves.
And people have been talking about how garbage the higher weights especially are now like HW and LHW but those larger fighters are the true best fighters in the world. Not the best LW fighter or WMMA fighters. So if those guys are declining then the conclusion is that the Best Fighters in the world are getting worse or as Khabib said becoming stagnate which leads to a decline anyways.
damn Purist , thats hard to imagine and believe with the talent it spawns. Thats why i asked. Like NBA , MLB , NHL talent has have to evolved over time
It peaked at David vs Goliath.
Ill Tell Helio that
I wouldn’t say those guys are declining. More like they’re cutting a fuckton of weight and fighting in unnatural divisions.
As for names, yeah. When there are cards every week and 600+ fighters on the roster it’s harder to stand out, be memorable and become a big name.
Is there any current LHW on the planet you would pick over a 2011 Jon Jones?
Is there any LW that would be a favorite over a Retired Khabib?
Would you pick Brandon Moreno over a Prime Mighty Mouse?
Take a look at the abysmal HW and LHW rankings which like I said before are really the most formidable fighters in the world. Not the lighter guys and women.
The game does evolve as a whole and there are outliers but in my opinion we are not seeing the best fighters we have ever seen at the moment.
damn this topic peaked my interest . Some interesting comments
Francis Ngannou’s power is an outlier and without that his skills are not black belt level to put it lightly…. But that power is insane and is an equalizer. This inactivity is not helping him or the sport at the moment but to me the best MMA Fight today is between the 2 best fighters in Jon Jones vs Francis and they are outliers.
MMA has regressed and I find this whole notion of MMA evolving to be borderline retarded.
With the amount the UFC pays it doesnt have a large genetic talent pool to choose from. Among other reasons.
Well those are three all time greats… The sport wasn’t so primitive 11 years ago that the greats from that era are going to automatically be surpassed by the next generation as was the case in the 90s going into the 2000s. All time greats at this point are going to stand until someone even more special than they were comes along.
really surprised
Yeah I agree the first decade of MMA was exponential growth. But this last decade has been stagnant by comparison and there are cases of a devolution in the product.
I would think Aaron Judge has evolved over Babe Ruth kinda thing
I don’t know enough about Baseball to make a good comparison and that is an entirely different sport but… is Aaron Judge better than Barry Bonds?
That would be closer than the Babe Ruth example