Khabib reveals details of annual MMA tournament in tribute to his late father
Photo by Valery Sharifulin\TASS via Getty Images
The first edition of the annual tribute show is expected to take place on Wednesday, Sep. 9.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has announced the details for the tribute tournament in the memory of his late father and mentor Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
The UFC lightweight champion revealed that the event will be an annual showcase featuring local fighters from across various promotions.
“This tournament will be annual, we have already planned it,” Khabib told Match TV (h/t RT Sports). “Only the date will change. So every year at the end of summer or at the beginning of fall we will have this event every year. Other than that, there were no problems with the organization. The fighters wanted to fight, and promoters also were also interested in making the event. Most likely due to the fact that many events have been canceled because of coronavirus pandemic.
“So everything came about very well. I hope the tournament will be held at a high level.”
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov passed away earlier this year at age 57 due to coronavirus-related complications. He was transported from his native Dagestan to a military hospital in Moscow in April after falling ill with pneumonia and flu-like symptoms, which was later confirmed to be COVID-19. As his condition worsened, the renowned coach suffered a stroke and underwent surgery before being placed in a medically induced coma.
Despite reports that there were signs of recovery, including from Khabib himself, Abdulmanap once again took a turn for the worse. His death led to an outpouring of tributes in his honour, including from Putin, local politicians, athletes, as well as his former students. Even his native village was renamed ‘Manap’ in his honour.
The aforementioned annual MMA event will be hosted by Fight Nights Global and will feature a main event bout between Vladimir Mineev and Dauren Ermekov. The event is scheduled to take place at the Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace in Moscow, Russia.
“I can highlight two fights from this event,” Khabib said. ”The first one is with my brother Usman. And the second one is the main event. A fight between two champions of their organizations (Fight Nights Global and GFC) - Vladimir Mineev versus Dauren Ermekov. ”I think Mineev will be the winner, but you can’t underestimate Ermekov.”