{"id":246871,"date":"2026-06-05T16:11:39","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:11:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/you-have-to-handle-this-khabib-nurmagomedov-opens-up-about-challenges-of-being-undefeated-in-mma\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T16:11:39","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T16:11:39","slug":"you-have-to-handle-this-khabib-nurmagomedov-opens-up-about-challenges-of-being-undefeated-in-mma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/you-have-to-handle-this-khabib-nurmagomedov-opens-up-about-challenges-of-being-undefeated-in-mma\/","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;You have to handle this&#8221; &#8211; Khabib Nurmagomedov opens up about challenges of being undefeated in MMA"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p>\n<div id=\"article-content\" data-postid=\"5175801\" data-slug-id=\"2791137\">\n<div class=\"vidazoo-player-container\">\n<span class=\"vidazoo-close-btn  hidden \"><br \/>\n<img data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/cmc-predictor\/v2\/cross-icon.png?w=40\" width=\"20\" height=\"20\" alt=\"close\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Khabib Nurmagomedov recently opened up about his undefeated status as an MMA fighter and outlined the biggest challenges that come with the honor.<\/p>\n<p>Nurmagomedov is among the biggest names in mixed martial arts and is widely considered to be the greatest lightweight champion of all time. Over the course of his career, he beat high-profile opponents like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/conor-mcgregor\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Conor McGregor<\/a>, Dustin Poirier, Edson Barboza, and Rafael Dos Anjos.<\/p>\n<p>The Dagestani grappling savant hung up his gloves for good after his second-round submission win over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/player\/justin-gaethje\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">Justin Gaethje<\/a> at UFC 254 in October 2020, and he retired with an incredible 29-0 record as a professional.<\/p>\n<p><template id=\"also-read-articles-template\"><\/p>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<p>In a recent interview, &#8216;The Eagle&#8217; opened up about the challenges of being an undefeated fighter in MMA and spoke about having to deal with the &#8220;pressure&#8221; that comes along with it. He said:<\/p>\n<div class=\"bottom-tagline top\" data-tab=\"top\">\n<p>Get the latest updates on One Championship <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/one-championship-rankings\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\" class=\"bottom_tagline_link\" data-tab=\"top\">Rankings<\/a> at Sportskeeda and more<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;When you&#8217;re undefeated, it&#8217;s a lot of pressure, very big pressure. You don&#8217;t want to lose, so you push yourself to the limit every day in training. You just train very, very hard. If I can describe it in one word, it&#8217;s pressure&#8230; Without handling pressure, you cannot be undefeated. You have to handle this.&#8221;<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<hr\/>\n<h2>When Khabib Nurmagomedov got honest about being friends with his former opponents<\/h2>\n<p>Last December, Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke about whether he maintains a relationship with his former opponents.<\/p>\n<p>In an interview with Manchester United legend Rio Ferdinand at the World Sports Summit (via <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChampRDS\/status\/2005939759646986469?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2005939759646986469%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=about%3Asrcdoc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\" data-is-sponsored=\"false\">@ChampRDS on X<\/a>), the former UFC lightweight champion explained why he didn&#8217;t believe in being friends with former opponents and said:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>&#8220;No, we have to be nice. But it&#8217;s never gonna be friends. This guy tries to smash your face. How are you gonna be friends with him? It&#8217;s different. In your game, you guys play [football], in our game, we fight. It&#8217;s two different [things].&#8221;<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div class=\"article-post-rating-widget\">\n<p><template id=\"post-rating-feedback-modal-template\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-feedback-box\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-content\">\n<div class=\"post-rating-feedback-data\">\n<p>Why did you not like this content?<\/p>\n<p><textarea id=\"dislike-feedback-text\" rows=\"4\" placeholder=\"Please type your feedback...\"\/>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<button class=\"close\">Cancel<\/button><br \/>\n<button class=\"submit\">Submit<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/template><\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-widget-parent hidden\">\n<div class=\"rating-parent-container\">\n<div class=\"rating-content-holder\">\n<p>Was this article helpful?<\/p>\n<div class=\"post-rating-action-container\">\n<div class=\"like-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-like-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"like\" title=\"like article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"like selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"dislike-container\">\n<button class=\"post-rating-dislike-button post-rating-button\" data-action=\"dislike\" title=\"dislike article\"><br \/>\n<img class=\"post-dis-like-image post-rating-image\" data-lazy=\"\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/like-articles\/upvote-icon-grey.svg\" height=\"20\" width=\"20\" loading=\"lazy\" alt=\"avatar selected\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\nThank You for feedback\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"tag-cloud\">\n<div class=\"tags-text\">\n<div class=\"scrollable-content-holder  article-padding\">\n<p class=\"article-p  \">Quick Links<\/p>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerLeft\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Left \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-left.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button><\/p>\n<nav id=\"pnProductNav\" class=\"pn-ProductNav\">\n<\/nav>\n<p><button id=\"pnAdvancerRight\" class=\"pn-Advancer pn-Advancer_Right \" type=\"button\"><br \/>\n<img style=\"background: none;\" data-lazy=\"https:\/\/staticg.sportskeeda.com\/skm\/assets\/article\/article-scroll-right.svg\" loading=\"lazy\"\/><br \/>\n<\/button>\n<\/div>\n<p>More from Sportskeeda<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>\n<span class=\"publisher-name\">Edited by Nishant Zende.<\/span>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportskeeda.com\/mma\/news-you-handle-this-khabib-nurmagomedov-opens-challenges-undefeated-mma\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Khabib Nurmagomedov recently opened up about his undefeated status as an MMA fighter and outlined the biggest challenges that come with the honor. Nurmagomedov is among the biggest names in mixed martial arts and is widely considered to be the greatest lightweight champion of all time. Over the course of his career, he beat high-profile [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":246872,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[6806],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-246871","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-gossip"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246871","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246871"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246871\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246872"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246871"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246871"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sports.runfyers.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246871"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}