Dana White reveals Khabib Nurmagomedov BROKE his foot three weeks before UFC 254

In his two-decade-long career, Dana White has seen a lot of fighters come and go, but Khabib Nurmagomedov is certainly different from the rest. A few days ago, Khabib Nurmagomedov displayed another magnificent performance as he choked out Justin Gaethje to retain his undisputed lightweight championship for the third time, taking his unbeaten record to 29-0. Afterwards, The Eagle announced his retirement which shocked the MMA world, including Dana White, who couldn’t do anything but praise “the GOAT”.

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While speaking to the media in the UFC 254 post-fight press conference, Dana White called Khabib Nurmagomedov “the baddest motherf***er on the planet”.  He then praised The Eagle for putting his opponent under “unbelievable” pressure and taking shots from Justin Gaethje, who has some vicious knockout power. “He keeps the pressure on. For that submission, he locks it up, gets it and chokes him out. Unbelievable,” Dana White added.

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Did Khabib Nurmagomedov break his foot at UFC 254?

Khabib Nurmagomedov was understandably emotional after his dominant win as he fought for the first time following his father Abdulmanap’s death. Not just that, the champ was also facing some physical issues prior to the event. According to Dana White, Nurmagomedov broke his foot three weeks before UFC 254 but didn’t inform anyone.

“Apparently, he was in the hospital, He broke his foot. Three weeks ago. So he has two broken toes and a bone in his foot that’s broken or something like that,” Dana White claimed.

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Not just that, adding to Dana White’s comments, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s head coach Javier Mendez revealed that the champ had mumps before breaking his foot. While talking to Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole, Mendez added that the UFC 254 camp was the worst as a lot of things happened between July and October. Despite this, Khabib Nurmagomedov made light work of Justin Gaethje and became the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC.

“He is the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, and you seriously have to start putting him up there at GOAT status with whoever else you think is the GOAT,” White said at the post-fight conference.

Also Read l Khabib retirement: Khabib hinted at retirement 2 WEEKS before facing Gaethje 

Image Source: UFC Instagram, AP