Islam Makhachev might be the latest UFC fighter from Dagestan to hang up the gloves as a favor to his mom. Makhachev’s coach and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov gave up the sport after a promise he made to his mother when his father died.
Now Makhachev has revealed that his mom asked him to do the same thing.
“My mother doesn’t watch fights, not just my fights – fights in general,” Makhachev said during an interview with UFC Russia. “She doesn’t like seeing people hit each other. When I came home there were a lot of people there. [My mother] said, ‘You’re a champion now. Wrap it up. Khabib listened to his mother. When will you listen to yours?’ “I told her Khabib defended his title and I need to do the same. It’s a hard topic for my mother. My father’s the opposite. He watches all the fights.”
According to his statement, he needed to defend his title, which he did at UFC 284 when he defeated Alexander Volkanovski.
But so far, no retirement announcement has been made.
Islam Makhachev’s mom wants him to retire