After a year of freedom that will include calm, rest and mourning for the death of his father, the best fighter of all time who announced tonight the end of his career - he will return to the arena • MMA fighter Haim Gozli in a special column
Normgomedov.
It is doubtful whether his retirement is final
Photography:
AP
Habib Normgomedov defeated Justin Geichi in the fight (weighing up to 70.3 kg), thus maintaining the championship belt, when at the end of the fight he announced his retirement.
After a loss-free fighting career that included a 0-29 balance, Habib is considered the best fighter of all time.
Seeing him subdue Geichi with a perfect triangle choke while making the UFC-ranked fighter look like a white-belted jiu-jitsu is a crazy sight.
Not in all his battles did he play with opponents.
There were those who won by points, but Habib's control was always clear.
Did he really retire?
Today, with Habib earning millions of dollars for the battle, it does not seem to me that the retirement in question will last too long.
He always talked about respect and values and that respect is more important than money.
In contrast, we've heard him talk in the past about a rematch with Conor McGregor for $ 100 million, so he seems to be still looking for the big money.
When asked what fight he would like, he asked for George St. Pierre, who is considered the greatest athlete in the industry.
George has already retired, but we have seen him retire several times so we still have a chance.
Of course there is the fight we all wanted to see: a friendly against Tony Ferguson - a fight that was canceled several times - and broke the hearts of the fans.
Many commentators thought Tony was the only one who could endanger Habib following his obscure fighting style.
How will it end?
In my opinion Habib went on a period of freedom, cold and relaxation of about a year, during which he will mourn the death of his father who recently died of the corona virus.
His father was an integral part of Habib's success.
Now Habib will rest from the stress of fighting: massive training and a pursuit to reach the desired weight (there were rumors that Habib was unable to reach the weight against Geichi and the UFC helped him with that. It's just a rumor).
Right now the UFC is talking about Conor's fight against Dustin Fourier being a belt fight, and of course as the all-powerful owner Dana White knows how to do.
If Conor wins - we'll get the battle of the century again, when Habib returns from retirement.
It seems we have not yet satiated a favorite and he has a lot more to give us the audience!
I know personally that in MMA sports to say: "I retire" these are a pair of very rude words, which in 99% do not last more than a few months.