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“I Don’t Wanna Become Like Dana”- Khabib Nurmagomedov Says There’s One Thing He Will Never Copy From Dana White

ByKevin Binoy

Nov 29, 2021 | 12:29 PM EST

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Khabib Nurmagomedov bid farewell to the sport of MMA at the top of his game after defending his belt against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. Ever since his retirement, ‘The Eagle’ has spent his time pursuing other ventures. ‘The Eagle’ acquired an MMA promotion towards the tail-end of 2020 and rebranded it Eagle FC.

Nurmagomedov has stated multiple times that he plans on having Eagle FC as a feeder league to the UFC. The promotion will be used as a platform for emerging talent to establish themselves. In a recent interview with Marc Raimondi of ESPN, ‘The Eagle’ detailed how he would like to be different from Dana White as the head of an MMA promotion.

He said, “I don’t wanna be like Dana. First of all I have hair on my head. And I see Dana photo when he just beginning with UFC and right now you can see like he don’t have hair on his head. I don’t wanna become like Dana. Yeah, I am going to promote. I am going to support, I am going to be there. Almost like Dana, but I don’t want to be like Dana with my hair. I want to save my hair.”

During the interview, ‘The Eagle’ also shared grand plans for his promotion. He stated that the promotion would have its first-ever event in the United States in Miami next year. The former champion also stated that his promotion plans to add 50 new fighters to its roster next year as well.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov details what is next for his roster of fighters

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Ever since his retirement, ‘The Eagle’ has taken on the role of head coach for many of the fighters under him. He stated that fighters under him would be taking time off in November and Decemeber to spend time with family and, from January onwards, return to fighting.

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A post shared by Khabib Nurmagomedov (@khabib_nurmagomedov)

‘The Eagle’ also mentioned that he believes Makhachev will get the job done against Dariush and fight for the title in the second half of 2022 and bring the belt back to Dagestan.

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What do you make of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s prediction involving Islam Makhachev? Let us know in the comments below!