Julianna Pena, the former UFC Women’s Bantamweight Champion, at last, responded to Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s decision to stay away from the MMA business entirely. Regarding various comments Khabib made about Pena winning the championship and her battles, the two experienced some tense exchanges earlier. Nurmagomedov made some remarks about the UFC’s lack of powerful female fighters. He added that there is still much room for growth in the way women fight. However, when asked about Khabib’s decision to retire from fighting and coaching, ‘The Venezuelan Vixen’ spoke highly of the Russian.
Julianna Pena was with Karyn Bryant and Michael Chiesa at ‘UFC Live’ when she was asked about Nurmagomedov’s retirement. She said “He said he was gonna be the champion and retire. He became the champion, he retired. He said he was… he promised his dad he is gonna take Islam all the way to the championship, and he did exactly that. Khabib kind of a guy that always does what he says he’s gonna do. If he says he’s gonna step away, I believe that.”
Julianna Pena relates to Khabib Nurmagomedov
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
She further spoke about relating to his decision. She said, “I think I saw something about 3 weeks with his family for the entire year he has got little kids, he wants to teach them wrestling, watch them grow up and be a part of their lives at this very important time and I can relate to that as a mother.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
Further, Pena was confident that Khabib Nurmagomedov will continue to be involved with the sport in some form or other. The former UFC lightweight champion isn’t going to entirely give up on the sport, in her opinion. The fighter believes Nurmagomedov will continue to support his team. His commitments won’t make it easy for him to abandon everything completely. She also admits that it won’t be easy for everyone to see him as often as it used to be.
ADVERTISEMENT
Article continues below this ad
It was Khabib’s sole decision to retire from the fighting game. ‘The Eagle’ is without a doubt one of the best fighters of all time, and everyone was astonished when he announced his retirement. Do you think it was a wise decision?
WATCH THE STORY: Joe Rogan on Howard Stern and His Evolution Towards Being ‘Woke’