Inside the mind of ferocious fighter Khabib

Abu Dhabi - UFC 242 and the post-match press conference revealed a lot about this rich but humble fighter from Dagestan.

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is ruthless. Once inside the steel cage, the Russian 'Eagle' has only one aim, one business - to hunt, hurt and finish his opponent. But that's just one face of this mean machine on a 28-0 unbeaten record streak with no intent of stopping any time soon.
The UFC 242 and the post-match press conference revealed a lot about this rich but humble fighter from Dagestan. After the bout, Khabib exchanged T-shirt with his opponent Dustin Poirier to raise money for charity fund by selling UFC 242 merchandise. It was an unexpected gesture at the end of a high voltage bout.
"I feel we can use this platform - Octagon and sell these T-shirts and make more money than if he sells them because I have more followers than him (Dustin Poirier) on Instagram. I am going to put this T-shirt there and I am going to sell this.
"All money I raise I will send it to him for his (charity) fund. I have heard about his charity stuff. We are famous, we have money and if we can help people, why not. If you have money in your hand this is very good.
"But if money go into your mind, it is very bad. You have to stay focused, humble and help people. This is very important. Even if you can make one kid happy, it's big enough for me," the devout Muslim fighter told reporters.
And later UFC president Dana White too promised to match the fund raised by the champion. Khabib said UFC mixed martial arts fights should be held in places which are in dire need of financial support and money raised should be used for charity works.
"I want to fight in Africa. They can build arena like this somewhere in Congo, Nigeria, Somalia, Sudan, and fight there, make money and do some charity stuff. UFC can do this; I am going to do this. Like for example, Africa is in a bad situation now without water. There are lots of people dying because they don't have just drinking water. Millions of people have this problem."
The superstar urged youngsters, especially teenagers to respect their parents to become good humans and sportspersons.
"Be very close to them as this is very important. Parents are everything. And that's it everything in your life is going to be good."
He underlined that the secret to his success was his father Abdulmanap, coach and his team who have immense respect for each other. "When I go to the cage with my father, I feel I go to the cage with the lion. I showed this great performance because of my father and great team."
And later when his teammate Islam Makhachev addressed the media, Khabib placed his belt in front and said: "Future champion," he said in another cute gesture of a true champion.
ashwani@khaleejtimes.com