Members of Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s team, including his cousin Abubakar Nurmagomedov, were involved in a cageside altercation with Khamzat Chimaev following Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title win at UFC 280.
However, the UFC Hall of Famer smoothed things out, heaping praise upon the welterweight contender as they shared a meal.
Speaking on the incident, Khabib Nurmagomedov stated:
“What happened yesterday does not show us well. Neither me nor Khamzat nor Abubakar. To tell the truth, we are tired of this nonsense. Here we are gathered as brothers, talked to each other, and we apologized to each other, hugged and inshallah I hope that in the future that we will only gather and fight for good reasons. That was today.”
Khabib added:
“Islam won the belt at first. The next one, very close, is going to be Khamzat. Khamzat, let us all get together so when Khamzat wins the belt, it’s not for the showing off, not for this conversation that we are going to celebrate. We will celebrate for our new champion, inshallah… I hope that this is our sad moment that it will never happen to anyone else.”
It remains to be seen what will come of the newfound friendship. While Khamzat has been incredibly dominant to begin his career, his championship hopes are far from realized.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov’s full comments on the incident below:
Why did Khamzat Chimaev fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov’s cousin?
Following UFC 280, Khamzat Chimaev was involved in a cageside altercation with ‘The Eagle’s cousin, Abubakar Nurmagomedov.
The initial controversy between the two welterweights began in 2021, as Nurmagomedov called Chimaev out on Instagram. His comments followed remarks by Chimaev directed at his cousin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, related to issues surrounding Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov.
It is alleged that Kadyrov was involved in squashing the altercation between Chimaev and Nurmagomedov. The Chechen leader added fuel to the speculation after posting a screenshot of a video chat with the two fighters to Instagram. He stated:
“There is no quarrel beetween Khamzat Chimaev and Abubakar Nurmagomedov – I have made sure of it personally, and I pass this information on to the ill-wishers. Do not blow up this problem of a global scale and do not try to instigate and tease athletes and their fans. This happens, including among brothers.”