“When you give everything, you eventually become unwanted.” Khabib Nurmagomedov opened his statement on Cristiano Ronaldo’s international retirement with that line, and the rest of it, circulated on X by @DovySimuMMA on Nov. 6, never softened. He placed Ronaldo “among the greatest of the greatest,” said people at that level are hard to understand, and then took a quiet shot at the clubs Ronaldo played for, writing that the way they treated him “cannot be put into words.”
On its face it’s a soccer tribute from a famous fan. Read it again with this week’s MMA news open in another tab and it starts to sound like something else. It sounds like a man watching the same thing begin to happen to his best friend.
The man who never got old in public
Nurmagomedov is the one great of his generation who never had to live through the part he’s describing. He retired in October 2020 after beating Justin Gaethje, his third straight lightweight title defense, and walked away at 29-0. MMA Fighting’s account ties the decision to a promise to his mother after the death of his father, the coach Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Christian Lee, talking to the same outlet this week, framed it as a promise to his father and added that Khabib “could have went on to defend his belt.” The retellings differ on the details of the vow. They agree on the result. Khabib left before anybody had the chance to get bored of him.
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So when he writes that elite competitors end up unwanted, he’s speaking as someone who saw the trap up close and stepped around it. That makes the next part of the week more interesting.
Tired of winning
Islam Makhachev is 29-1. He has won 17 straight since a 2016 knockout loss to Adriano Martins, holds the lightweight record with four consecutive title defenses, and beat Ian Machado Garry at UFC 330 in August for his first defense at welterweight. Those are numbers you’d expect to buy a man some goodwill.
Instead, here’s Uros Medic on the Believe You Me podcast: “I’m going to be honest with you: I’m a little tired of watching Islam Makhachev winning at the top.” Medic meant it with affection (he called Makhachev the best in the division and told him to go be a businessman or a politician), and I don’t think he’s a villain here. But listen to what he’s actually saying. The complaint is that the champion is still winning.
Medic has company. Makhachev drew criticism from fans and from Dana White for pulling out of negotiations for a January title defense, choosing to let Carlos Prates and Michael Morales settle an interim belt at UFC 336 first. Lee, who holds ONE titles at lightweight and welterweight, is out here saying he’d dominate him. That’s the tax on staying great for too long. The accomplishments flatten into background noise, and every scheduling decision becomes a referendum on character.
Compare that to the other big retirement conversation in this week’s Morning Report. Henry Cejudo argued on his Pound 4 Pound podcast that the UFC should just release Conor McGregor rather than pay him for his final fight, and he didn’t bother being polite about it, saying he’d cut him. McGregor is 1-4 in the UFC since the Mayweather fight, and his UFC 329 return against Max Holloway ended in 69 seconds with a leg injury. You can argue about Cejudo’s math. You can’t argue that McGregor’s slide came from losing. Makhachev’s comes from the opposite direction, and the end point looks uncomfortably similar: people talking openly about how they’d prefer he just went away.
The finish line
Makhachev seems to know exactly where he is. At the Sambo World Championship in Tashkent, he told Red Corner MMA, “There aren’t many things that could give me motivation in this sport. I’m at the finish line.” He also said, “I’ve always listened to my mother, so soon I will obey her word.” He’s 35. He said he doesn’t see any new names.
Here’s my take, and I’ll say it plainly. The fatigue around Makhachev is a failure of the audience, and Khabib’s statement is the most precise description of it anyone has offered this year, even if he was writing about a footballer. Seventeen straight wins should not read as a chore to watch. But the smartest thing Makhachev can do is the thing Khabib did, which is decide the ending himself before the crowd decides it for him. Ronaldo didn’t get that. Khabib wrote as though he knows it.
The path is already laid out. Prates and Morales fight for the interim welterweight title at UFC 336 in January, and Makhachev’s next appearance against the winner could come around the middle of 2027. If he listens to his mother after that, nobody will ever get to write a tribute like this one about him.
