As Khabib Nurmagomedov waded by way of waves of Nevada Athletic Fee officers, Las Vegas police and UFC safety to the again of T-Cellular Enviornment at UFC 229, a name was ready.
On the road was Vladimir Putin, who’d gone from TV to phone to congratulate the Dagestani champ seconds after tapping out the most important star in MMA, Conor McGregor, in a combat that had develop into a world sensation.
The Russian president needed to wait a bit – after the bedlam that ensued with Nurmagomedov leaping into the gang to combat McGregor teammate Dillon Danis, a whole lot of our bodies have been required to clear the scene. Stiff fines would comply with for all these concerned, none better than for “The Eagle,” who was in the end docked $500,000 from his combat purse.
However based on White, Nurmagomedov acquired a present from Putin that, for many, can be a life-changing useful resource. Putin’s cellphone congratulation was simply the opening gesture in what the UFC CEO stated was a lavish reward bestowed upon the then-UFC light-weight champ and his now-deceased father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
“He didn’t even make it again to his dressing room after the combat, and Putin was on the cellphone,” White recounted of the UFC 229 saga on the “Video games with Names” podcast. “Putin gave him and his father, like, $20 million price of property in Russia. Then he went into the Muslim territories the place these guys are like, automobiles, cash, gyms, no matter he wished.”
A lot of these items to Nurmagomedov have been documented, together with a lavish Mercedes given by Putin ally and now-sanctioned Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov, whose longtime obsession with MMA and alliances with UFC fighters would later entice the eye of the U.S. State Division. Putin’s $20 million in actual property was not beforehand referred to as a present.
Nurmagomedov was no stranger, nevertheless, to Putin’s generosity, whether or not instantly or not directly. In response to Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan, nearly all of his coaching camps have been funded by Russian oligarch and Putin crony Ziyavudin Magomedov, who was later arrested for allegedly embezzling state funds to the tune of roughly $180 million.
Practically six years after that fateful night time in Las Vegas, Nurmagomedov is retired and has resisted White’s efforts to convey him again to the octagon. In response to White, cash is the explanation McGregor isn’t coming again any time quickly.
“When you get to that stage [of Nurmagomedov’s fame], it’s like what we’re coping with with Conor McGregor,” White stated. “Conor McGregor lives in a yacht in the course of wherever the warmest place on this planet is at the moment. When you get to that stage, you’re not getting up and getting punched within the face any extra.”
White intimated that Nurmagomedov’s departure from MMA – the results of a promise to his mom after the loss of life of his father – stored him from capturing the mantle of MMA goat.
“The GOAT is Jon Jones,” he stated. “Jon Jones is undefeated. Khabib is undefeated, too, however I might have favored to have seen Khabib do extra.”