When Khabib Nurmagomedov announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in November 2020, in what seemed to be the prime of his fighting life, it felt like the end of something. He had been so dominant for so long, almost single-handedly putting Russia's rugged Republic of Dagestan on the MMA map along the way, and suddenly, only moments after he strangled Justin Gaethje unconscious to improve to a staggering 29-0 overall, it was all over.
Just one year later, Nurmagomedov's retirement looks less like the end of something and more like the flashpoint for an era of dominance for fighters from Dagestan, its surrounding republics and oblasts, and larger Russia.