March 06, (THEWILL) -Khabib Nurmagomedov, the renowned former UFC lightweight champion, will be inducted into the Championship’s Hall of Fame.
Nurmagomedov was named the inaugural inductee into the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2022 during the UFC 272 broadcast on Saturday night.
The 33-year-old had one of the most successful mixed martial arts career in history. The Eagle retired in 2021 with a perfect 29-0 record, with 19 knockout or submission victories.
Nurmagomedov signed with UFC in 2011 after starting his career with 16 straight victories and with a third-round submission victory over Kamal Shalorus, he made his UFC on FX 1 debut.
He did not win the lightweight title until 2018, when he defeated Al Iaquinta by unanimous decision. Conor McGregor had resigned the title due to inactivity, and interim champion Tony Ferguson had taken over.
Nurmagomedov’s reign as champion was officially recognised at 1,077 days when he retired from the sport in March 2021.
In October 2018, he was also a part of the largest UFC event in history, which pitted him against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 in Las Vegas. It drew over 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, eclipsing McGregor’s previous high-water mark of 1.5 million set in August 2016 during his bout with Nate Diaz.
In the main event of that show, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor by submission. After that, he fought two more times, defeating Dustin Poirier (UFC 242) and Justin Gaethje (UFC 254) before retiring.
The Hall of Fame ceremony has yet to be set in stone by the UFC.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
