Umar Nurmagomedov was prepared for his cousin, Khabib, to step away from coaching mixed martial arts.
The former UFC lightweight champion announced he would leave the sport, with ‘spending more time with his family’ as the primary reason for doing so. However, there was a secondary reason, and Umar has revealed it during an interview with Aaron Bronsteter of TSN.
“I’m not surprised, we always knew and we talked about this,” said Nurmagomedov. “I’m not nervous. I’m okay. We had a [phone] call. We talked, he gave me advice about the fight [against Raoni Barcelos at UFC Vegas 67], about cutting weight.