The President of Russia met with fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov and his father Abdulmanap in the framework of the forum “Russia is a sports power” in Ulyanovsk.
On October 6, the Russian athlete convincingly won the Irish mixed martial arts fighter Conor McGregor and defended the UFC champion title in his weight class. However, after the battle, events occurred, because of which Khabib was almost taken away from the champion's belt, and the father of the athlete (and his coach) promised his son to punish him.
Vladimir Putin at a meeting with Habib and his father congratulated the athlete, saying that he "won with dignity and convincingly." According to the president, the fighter "did the main thing - he won."
Commenting on the events that took place after the battle, Putin said: "I will ask your dad not to punish you strictly."
The President of Russia expressed the hope that "the ideals of sport will be above earnings, advertising." At the same time, he clarified what he means by the team of Khabib's rivals.
Vladimir Putin also wished the fighter to have good human relations with his rivals.
“No one will be able to throw at you a reproach that you didn’t strive for this,” said the head of state.
Nurmagomedov, in turn, expressed the hope that they would appreciate not only his “jump”, but also his performance.
“Unlike his (McGregor) disrespect for my parents, for my country, I behaved with dignity. Although I didn’t control it, because there were provocations during the battle,” Khabib explained.
“I hope that the court will decide in our favor,” he added. Putin replied: "We understand that this is a special case."