Even though Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in 2019, the Eagle still holds great value in the MMA community. Following his retirement, Nurmagomedov trains other Dagestani fighters, including Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov. These two fighters under the ‘Eagle’ have been doing exceptionally well. As such, even UFC commentator Joe Rogan couldn’t stop himself from commenting on it.
In a recent podcast episode, Rogan sat down with newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Belal Muhammad. Both the podcaster and Muhammad delved into several intriguing topics. Among those, they discussed Khabib Nurmagomedov’s rigorous training camps. Following that conversation, Rogan heaped praises on the Eagle’s capabilities to produce good fighters.
That mentality is why that camp produces so many assassins.
Joe Rogan via JRE MMA Show #162
Rogan then quickly bounced off to one of Eagle’s disciple’s recent victories. The UFC commentator was in awe at how Umar Nurmagomedov comfortably defeated Cory Sandhagen via unanimous decision. Moreover, the retired UFC champion even played a major role in Belal Muhammad’s victory at UFC 304. Even though the Eagle took no credit for that, his inputs were quite visible when Muhammad was dominating his opponent.
Speaking of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s protege, Islam Makhachev, the 32-year-old currently holds the UFC lightweight title. Makhachev is successfully upholding the legacy of the Eagle in the UFC lightweight division. The legacy for which Nurmagomedov still gets respect from everyone in the community. Interestingly, Joe Rogan, who has been associated with the UFC since its early days, believes that the Eagle is at the top of the Greatest of All Time (GOAT) list.
Joe Rogan claims that Khabib Nurmagomedov should be considered the GOAT of UFC
Khabib Nurmagomedov bid farewell to the sport at a career-high record of 29-0-0. A record that every fighter yearns to make their own. At that time, there were very few fighters close to Nurmagomedov’s level. One such fighter was Jon Jones. Rogan who saw both the fighters in action draws an intriguing comparison to sum up the GOAT debate between them.
Joe Rogan believes Khabib Nurmagomedov is over Jon Jones in the GOAT debate (Image via Imago)Joe Rogan gave a detailed analysis in a recent podcast episode of his show. Interestingly, unlike Nurmagomedov, Jones has a blemish in his UFC records. As such, he once lost a fight against Matt Hamill via disqualification. While drawing the comparisons, Rogan also mentions that:
Khabib (Nurmagomedov) chokes everybody out and he’s like one of the greatest if not the greatest… Khabib is undefeated, he retired at 29-0, dominated everybody, no one was even close. Jon Jones has had split-decisions. The Reyes fight was fu*king close. So was the Thiago Santos fight. Close fights. There’s no close fights in Khabib’s history. There’s no close fights. Everybody gets fu*king mauled
Joe Rogan via Joe Rogan Experience #1689
Not only that, Rogan also highlights how comfortably the Eagle submitted fighters like Justin Gaethje, Dustin Poirier, and Conor McGregor in his last three fights. Interestingly, even though Dana White considers Jones as the GOAT, Rogan might be inclined towards Nurmagomedov more. This revelation might further intensify the intriguing GOAT debate in the UFC.
