Even his most ardent fans will admit that Khabib Nurmagomedov retired prematurely. After all, the former UFC lightweight champion retired undefeated but with just three title defenses. And that stopped him from cementing his legacy as the greatest.

But he had to retire because his mother made him promise to do so after his father’s tragic death in 2020. Despite this ‘The Eagle’ is still in the GOAT conversation because of just how dominant he was, as Joe Rogan explained on episode #2148 of the JRE podcast, along with explaining how his historic fight with Conor McGregor led to one small blemish on Nurmagomedov’s pro fighting career.

“Khabib Nurmagomedov, who’s also in the conversation of who’s the greatest of all time… ‘cuz it’s not even a matter of whether he lost, ‘cuz he never lost, he was 29 and 0. It’s a matter of did he ever lose a round? And he lost maybe one round in the Conor McGregor fight because in the Conor McGregor fight, in one round, it looked like he was kind of taking a round off to really put the heat on him, he was slowing Conor down,” Rogan said.

“And then he was just taking him down and beating the s**t out of him, yelling at him cuz there was so much like trash talk… And I think he might have lost one round in that fight where Conor got the better of him standing ‘cuz Conor’s still an elite motherf****r but other than that his whole career is just domination,” the UFC color commentator added.

Of course, ‘The Eagle’s UFC 229 clash with McGregor remains, to this day, the biggest, most commercially successful fight in the history of MMA. And as Rogan pointed out, McGregor was able to win the first round of that fight because of his world-class striking. But in the latter rounds, Nurmagomedov did what he does best, taking ‘Mac’ down and mauling him on the ground with his relentless pace and grappling prowess. But what happened immediately after their fight was even more interesting.

Why Conor McGregor still hates Khabib Nurmagomedov and his Dagestani camp

The aftermath of Khabib Nurmagomedov and Conor McGregor’s UFC 229 clash was wild. There was a lot of animosity between the two men because of just how acerbic and vitriolic the trash-talk from ‘Mac’ was. The bombastic Irishman, after all, targeted everything ‘The Eagle’ held dear in the run-up to their clash.

But Nurmagomedov, who refused to enter into a verbal battle with the Dubliner had a chilling moment during the ceremonial weigh-ins where ‘The Eagle’ faced a pro-Conor crowd and bluntly iterated the summary of the fight with a smile. He famously said, “Tomorrow night! I am gonna smash your boy guys!” And smash he did as the Sambo ace exercised his revenge in the fourth round of their fight, not just submitting McGregor, but also asking him to talk trash to him like he had been before their fight. Not to mention he spat on the Irishman to show just how much contempt he had for him.

But all hell broke loose after the fight was over. ‘The Eagle’ jumped out of the cage to attack ‘Mac’s teammate, Dillon Danis, who was still insulting Nurmagomedov after the fight. Meanwhile, two of Nurmagomedov’s teammates entered the octagon and jumped McGregor, putting him in a neck crank and trying to hurt him as much as they could. And that is exactly why McGregor hates Nurmagomedov to this day, and doesn’t miss a chance to insult him and even his teammates every chance he gets.

Too bad there is no chance of a rematch since ‘The Eagle’ is retired, but at least ‘Mac’ can take solace in the fact that he beat ‘Khabib’, even if it was for one round. What are your thoughts on Joe Rogan’s take on Khabib Nurmagomedov’s career?