Khabib Claims His Wrestling Is Better Now

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired undefeated in October 2020 at what most people assumed was the peak of his powers, but he corrected that assumption.

The UFC Hall of Famer made a claim that stops the conversation cold: he is a better grappler now, at 37, than he was during the championship run that made him the most dominant fighter the lightweight division has ever seen.

"People think my prime was between 2018 and 2020, but I wasn't in my prime back then. I turned 32 in September 2020, and I retired in October. So I hadn't even really begun yet. My grappling has improved tremendously since then. In 2026, it's much better than it was in 2020.

"I watch my old fights now and think, 'How could I have made that mistake here?' Meanwhile, people watching from the outside say, 'Wow, what a level.' But to me, that's not the level. My grappling is far better now. And the guys who trained with me in both 2020 and 2026 say the same thing,” Nurmagomedov

The version of Khabib that people remember from 2018 to 2020 was the version that suffocated Conor McGregor, dismantled Dustin Poirier, dominated Al Iaquinta across five rounds, and finished his career with a performance against current lightweight champion Justin Gaethje that looked like a man operating in a different dimension from everyone else in the division.

The absence of fights does not mean the absence of growth, and Nurmagomedov has remained a constant presence in training — most visibly in the development of Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov, both of whom have credited his influence directly.

Whether the world ever gets to see the 2026 version of Nurmagomedov's wrestling in any competitive context is another question entirely. He has been firm about his retirement and has shown no public inclination to reverse it.