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The tough part is in his resume. The aforementioned, other than McGregor, hold a great quantity and storied names on their group of victims. The narratives were perhaps stronger, the eyes watching perhaps opened bigger. But it has to be said that Nurmagomedov was so intimidating, making such tackling dummies out of his opponents, that Dana White just could not find a fight for him. Due to this, as well as some injuries, Nurmagomedov didn’t compete from April 2014 to April 2016.
That’s when the run to the mountaintop kicked into gear. A loud return in the form of a second-round TKO over Darrell Horcher sparked title-fight chatter with Eddie Alvarez on top. When the promotion opted for McGregor’s bid to become the first double-champ, Nurmagomedov responded with a terrifyingly powerful submission win over Michael Johnson in which Nurmagomedov could be heard telling Johnson to give up because he knew Nurmagomedov was worthy of a title shot. He earned that shot next, and in a chaotic fight week at UFC 223, he ultimately secured the belt by defeating Al Iaquinta.
So few question marks surround Nurmagomedov’s quality. Yes, there were some issues managing weight cuts, but by the time he earned the belt, he got that part down, and there wasn’t really another true stumbling block in his career. The cursed matchup with Tony Ferguson fell through for increasingly ridiculous reasons, and that might be the only true “what if” lost in this retirement, but in terms of the highest ceiling – the apex of one’s dominance – Nurmagomedov is near, if not at, the mountaintop.
He ascended to superstardom without much of the pomp and circumstance that surrounds many historically popular prizefighters. Though he had several finishes, Nurmagomedov’s style wasn’t necessarily flashy. It didn’t produce viral knockouts. It just produced the look of helplessness in his opponents. Nurmagomedov didn’t really talk trash, either. He would say he would “smash” people, but frankly, it was an accurate description of his fights. Other than a certain incident at UFC 229 that capped an ugly feud, Nurmagomedov exuded respect for his foes and the sport, most notably at UFC 242 when, after swapping shirts with Poirier in a show of respect, he announced he would auction the shirt and donate the money to Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation. In that same interview, Nurmagomedov relished honoring his father, who proudly stood next to him in the Octagon.