Khabib ‘Aged 50 Years’ Watching Makhachev Vs. Volkanovski

Video captured backstage after Islam Makhachev’s win over Alexander Volkanovski shows what Khabib had to say to his friend and training partner about his performance.

Khabib Nurmagomedov may not have been in his protégé Islam Makhachev’s corner at UFC 284, but he was definitely watching the fight at home.

At the start of 2023, Nurmagomedov revealed a plan to step away from the MMA industry and spend more time with his family. That meant no more training camps and no more cornering, not even for his close friend Islam as Makhachev prepared to fight the No. 1 pound-for-pound Alexander Volkanovski in Perth, Australia.

While Makhachev would walk away from the fight with a unanimous decision win, it was a much closer affair than almost anyone anticipated. There’s a lot of debate as to whether Volkanovski really lost, and whether Makhachev deserves to take the No. 1 P4P position after such a tight win over a featherweight fighter.

Obviously, Islam Makhachev believes he did enough to secure the top spot in the sport.

“Now people are gonna call me not just champ, but best fighter in the world,” he said at the UFC 284 post-fight press conference. “This is my dream. Doesn’t matter how I won. I’m very happy.”

And how did Khabib Nurmagomedov feel about his performance?

“He told me he was so nervous,” Makhachev said with a laugh. “And he said ‘Why are you doing this, this, this this?’ If you come too and if you were my corner, I can do this. But you didn’t come.”

The backstage area at UFC pay-per-views are swarming with cameras, and one of them actually caught Islam’s FaceTime call with Khabib following the win.

“Well, you’re the pound-for-pound king,” Khabib said.

“If only you were here. It would be much easier for me,” Makhachev replied. “It’s not like I fought a random guy, he’s the best fighter in the world. I’ll see you soon.”

“I aged 50 years because of you,” Nurmagomedov replied.

Khabib has been known to get pretty emotional while cornering his fighters, so it must have been especially difficult for him to be at home unable to offer his friend any advice as he endured the toughest challenge of his career.

There’s already talk of an eventual Makhachev vs. Volkanovski rematch. Rather than age another fifty years, perhaps Khabib will step out of full retirement and help Islam out for the next one.