Khabib Nurmagomedov is arguably one of the most polarizing figures in the martial arts world. The retired UFC fighter was a dominant force of nature within the octagonal and lightweight champion. The fighter retired at the top of his game in 2020 due to the unfortunate death of his father. Since then, Nurmagomedov has devoted himself as a coach to his friends and brothers from Dagestan.
Nurmagomedov is very famous and has a huge fan base all over the world. Nurmagomedov is a hero and role model for many young people in his native Russia. But Khabib’s background reveals that the fighter had many connections to Ukraine. Prior to his time at the UFC, Nurmagomedov was also seen carrying the Ukrainian flag instead of his iconic ‘Papakha’. Nurmagomedov is somewhat unusual in that he never took the Russian flag despite being a citizen of the country.
‘Eagle’ was born in Dagestan, a republic of Russia, but its connection with Ukraine goes back a long way. His father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, served in the Ukrainian army. Abdulmanap completed his training in Ukraine and also competed in various sambo tournaments. As a trainer, he trained many fighters in Ukraine.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov repeatedly denied visa to Ukraine
Khabib Nurmagomedov tried to become a citizen of Ukraine many times in his early days, but the fighter was not given this opportunity. Khabib Nurmagomedov was not famous at that time, it made the process of becoming a citizen of Ukraine very difficult, and he finally gave up on the idea.
By Khabib’s uncle, Alex Nurmagomedov, annoyed by fighter Ukraine’s visa refusal; but he had no other choice.
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“We did our best for Khabib to get Ukrainian citizenship. We value, love and respect Ukraine and its people. I say you can’t find a better nation. They say home is where you were born. In my book, home is where you feel good. Khabib’ “We planned for him to compete for Ukraine, but we couldn’t. Khabib was offended by the denial. He asked me why they didn’t give me a passport, why they would consider the situation that way. I told him I didn’t know why and I couldn’t do anything about it,” he said. alex said sports express
Nurmagomedov’s Loyalty is now definitely in Russia, given her talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin. But Ukraine has lost the chance to include one of its greatest mixed martial artists as its citizens.
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