"The enemy of any fighter is father time" - Dan Hooker lauds Khabib Nurmagomedov for this achievement in MMA

Dan Hooker recently showered Khabib Nurmagomedov with praise, citing his outstanding MMA resume. Hooker said that Nurmagomedov was smart to retire from professional competition while maintaining his undefeated record.

Nurmagomedov was one win away from achieving a remarkable 30-0 record, but he ended his career with 29 wins. In his final octagon appearance at UFC 254 in 2020, 'The Eagle' faced Justin Gaethje in a lightweight title unification match. He submitted Gaethje with a triangle choke in the second round and announced his retirement during his post-fight octagon interview with Jon Anik.

During a recent interview with Sky Sport NZ, Hooker expressed his admiration for Nurmagomedov:

''The enemy of any fighter is father time. You give it enough time, you roll the dice enough times, you come up snake eyes. That's just the nature of the beast that we're working with. It's like we've only had one fighter get in and get out after a good streak and that's Khabib. And you think he retired because he was like there's no one to challenge me. I'm going to retire.''

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Hooker continued by saying that Nurmagomedov retired while he was at his peak:

''Like he's just a very smart fighter. He was undefeated and he knew that if he kept taking those chances, if he kept rolling those dice that he was going to like you can get clipped in so many different ways in our sport. So he was a smart fighter and that's one fighter in MMA history that's got in and got out with that perfect record which is credit to him.''

Check out Dan Hooker's comments below (11:24):

As for Hooker, the No. 6-ranked lightweight contender is on a three-fight win streak. He was scheduled to return against Gaethje at UFC 313 earlier this year, but a hand injury forced him out of the contest. The Kiwi now aims to face Charles Oliveira at the UFC's November MSG card.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov names the greatest MMA fighters of all time

While many in the MMA world consider Khabib Nurmagomedov one of the greatest fighters to step inside the octagon, the Dagestani remains humble and recently named his own picks.

During an appearance on Adam Zubayraev's Hustle Show podcast, Nurmagomedov named two fighters he believes are the best:

''I’d say two guys, if that’s allowed. Fedor [Emelianenko] and [Jon] Jones...A person can be confident and think they’re the best, that’s normal. But if you’re convinced you’re the greatest of all time, that’s egocentrism. To me that’s narcissism.''

Check out Khabib Nurmagomedov's comments below (2:37:31):

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Edited by Swagat Kumar Jena