Just days after saying he might return, Khabib Nurmagomedov was honored.

The unbeaten former UFC champion will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame as part of the Class of 2022. The announcement was made Saturday night during UFC 272.

Nurmagomedov made an off-the-cuff remark that if one of his fighters couldn’t defeat Conor McGregor, maybe he would return to take his former rival down a second time. 

The UFC Hall of Fame takes place during the 10th annual UFC International Fight Week in Las Vegas. The event will stream live on UFC Fight Pass.

“Khabib is one of the greatest athletes to ever compete in professional sports,” UFC President Dana White said. “No one dominated their opponents that way Khabib did, and to retire undefeated, as lightweight champion and the No. 1 pound-for-pound athlete in the world is an incredible accomplishment. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer.”

Nurmagomedov will enter the UFC Hall of Fame as a member of the Modern Wing, joining Forrest Griffin (2013), BJ Penn (2015), Urijah Faber (2017), Ronda Rousey (2018), Michael Bisping (2019), Rashad Evans (2019) and Georges St-Pierre (2020) in this distinguished category. The “Modern Era” category includes athletes who turned pro on or after November 17, 2000 (when the first UFC event under the unified rules of MMA was held), are a minimum age of 35 or who have been retired for one year or more.

Nurmagomedov enters the UFC Hall of Fame with an impressive resume that includes:

 

  • 4 title fight wins – Tied for most in UFC lightweight division history

 

  • 12 lightweight division wins – Tied for longest winning streak in UFC lightweight division history

 

  • 13 consecutive wins – Tied for 3rd longest winning streak in UFC history (2012-20)

 

  • 21 takedowns – Most takedowns in a single UFC bout (vs. Abel Trujillo – UFC 160)

 

  • 59 takedowns – Second-most in UFC lightweight division history

 

  • 54.6% – Third highest control time percentage in lightweight UFC history

 

  • 1:29:08 – Third-most control time in lightweight UFC history

 

  • 1:04:28 – Third-most top position time in lightweight UFC history

 

  • 88 significant ground strikes – Fourth-most landed in a single UFC bout (vs. Michael Johnson – UFC 205)
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