UFC fighters may have managed to get to the leading promotion in the sport, but many of them had dreams about pursuing other professions in their childhoods. Some wanted to pursue a career in sports, but not in MMA. A few four-year-old reports reveal that the UFC icon, Khabib Nurmagomedov, is also a member of the same team.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Wanted To Play the Sport of His Choice Professionally After His MMA Retirement
There’s hardly anyone in the MMA community who can question Khabib Nurmagomedov’s contribution to the sport. Apart from being a former lightweight champion and boasting an undefeated record, Nurmagomedov co-headlined UFC 229 with Conor McGregor, the most-viewed UFC event to date.
Nurmagomedov is hailed by the community for his dominant ground game, which none of his rivals could find an answer to. However, a large chunk of the UFC community believes that Nurmagomedov declared his retirement from the sport way too early, while he was just 32. The Dagestani holds a pro-MMA record of 29-0, with three successful lightweight title defenses in his UFC career.
Despite ‘The Eagle’s’ class apart pedigree in the sport, a few reports from 2021 revealed that MMA wasn’t his first choice. In one of his coeval interviews with MatchTV, Nurmagomedov mentioned that it was his childhood dream to play “football” (soccer) professionally. The former lightweight king also labeled soccer as the “king of sports”. He said, “To play football on a professional level is a childhood dream. Of course, I have such a wish. Football is the king of sports after all.”
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Nurmagomedov has also been highly vocal about his fandom for the noted soccer icon Cristiano Ronaldo. During his interview, ‘The Eagle’ also revealed that Ronaldo’s former side, Real Madrid FC, was his “dream” soccer franchise.
Nurmagomedov took fans by storm in 2021 after revealing that he wanted to play soccer professionally after retiring from his decorated MMA career in Oct. 2020. Reports also said that he had discussed the issue with Nasser Al-Khelaifi, the president of the noted soccer club, Paris Saint-Germain.
Nurmagomedov’s wishes to play soccer professionally haven’t come to fruition to date. However, he recently had an interaction with the retired soccer icon, Patrice Evra, who is about to take the opposite way he wishes.
Evra is set to make his MMA debut under PFL on May 26 in Paris after retiring from his remarkable soccer career. The 43-year-old recently caught up with Nurmagomedov via a video call, requesting his help to prepare for the fight. After a wholesome interaction, Nurmagomedov agreed to Evra’s proposal since he had learned about his “location” after the call.