UFC president Dana White has claimed that Vladimir Putin gifted Khabib Nurmagomedov “$20m in property” after the MMA great’s win over Conor McGregor.
Russian Nurmagomedov submitted McGregor in October 2018, retaining the lightweight title that the Irishman previously held. The fight, which followed a bitter build-up and preceded a brawl in Las Vegas, remains the highest-grossing pay-per-view in mixed martial arts history.
Khabib, while celebrating his victory over McGregor, met Russian president Putin, who apparently rewarded the fighter generously.
“He didn’t even make it back to his dressing room after the fight, and Putin was on the phone,” White said of Nurmagomedov on the Games With Names podcast on Tuesday (20 February).
“Putin gave him and his father like $20m worth of property in Russia. Then [Nurmagomedov] went into the Muslim territories, where these guys are [all about] cars, money, gyms – whatever he wanted,” White claimed.
Nurmagomedov, 35, fought twice more after his win against McGregor, retaining the lightweight title against Dustin Poirier in 2019 and Justin Gaethje in 2020. The “Eagle” submitted both Americans and retired in the cage after his win against Gaethje.
Upon retiring, Nurmagomedov cited the death of his father Abdulmanap – who also worked as his coach – in July 2020. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov died at the age of 57 from Covid-related complications.
Khabib’s childhood friend Islam Makhachev was also coached by Abdulmanap and went on to win the UFC lightweight title in 2022. Makhachev, whom Khabib coached for some time after retiring from fighting, still holds the belt.
