Khabib Nurmagomedov is an avid football fan and plays the sport with his Dagestani teammates. So much so that back in 2021, the Dagestani fighter signed for FC Legion Dynamo, a team in Russia’s third-division league. It seems the love for football is still with him as he showed on Instagram recently.
Khabib is a fan of the OG Ronaldo. Yes, the one from Brazil with the funny haircut! Ronaldo Nazario is widely regarded as the most talented player to ever run across a blade of grass. But it would appear that Nurmagomedov isn’t just a fan of his soccer skills but also his humility and sportsmanship. Allow us to draw you a picture of that night so you have a bit of context about why Khabib loves this moment so much.
During the 2002 Football World Cup, Brazil faced Germany in the final of the tournament. Following Brazil’s win, Ronaldo was declared the Man of the Match, while German goalkeeper extraordinaire, Oliver Kahn was awarded the Golden Ball. Kahn had been truly exceptional throughout the tournament. But…
… in the final, a huge error on his part allowed Ronaldo to make his mark in the game and Germany never quite recovered from it. Following the mistake, Kahn was seen distraught on the field, seemingly possessed by the error that would cost Germany the world title. But he was snapped out of it and embraced by none other than Ronaldo himself.
This show of sportsmanship was captured by a cameraman, and the photo was on the last page of every newspaper all across the world and remains to this day, a shrine to the power of sportsmanship and humility. With the lessons that Abulmanap Nurmagomedov had taught the Eagle, it was only natural that he saw a lot of value in that picture.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is an ardent football fan. And no, he doesn’t just play, he is an encyclopedia for the sport. He knows his players, he knows his teams and he knows the history of the sport. As a matter of fact, in 2021, during an interaction with a fellow fighter, he schooled him for not knowing the history of the great game.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Soccer Encyclopedia
Khabib Nurmagomedov was in the United States training alongside Javier Mendez. Shortly after wrapping up a training session, he met a fellow fighter in the gym. ‘The Eagle’ then asked the fighter what he knew about ‘soccer’, and followed it up with a trivia question.
When the fighter was unable to answer, Nurmagomedov went on to name every Champions League winner from 2005 to 2020,
“If you don’t know nothing about football you don’t know how to play. You have to understand the game.”
He then went on to name the Golden Ball winners from every year since 2003. His extensive football knowledge had fans calling Khabib Nurmagomedov a walking encyclopedia.
