Khabib Nurmagomedov says going 30-0 would be the Floyd Mayweather Jr. record of MMA

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov says his goal is to go 30-0 before he retires, pulling a Floyd Mayweather Jr. in the process.

Mayweather retired with a perfect 50-0 record after stopping Conor McGregor in the 10th round of their superfight back in August 2017. Of course, Mayweather has teased a comeback over the last few years and may add to that mark, but considering how much money he made during his career and the perfect 50-0 mark attached to his name, you can see why he remains retired. The perfect 50-0 mark by Mayweather proves he’s one of the best to ever do it.

Much of the same can be said about Nurmagomedov, who is a perfect 28-0 in MMA. “The Eagle” will look to make it 29-0 when he takes on Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, and potentially 30-0 against Georges St-Pierre in a superfight before he retires. Speaking to Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Nurmagomedov explained why the 30-0 number is so important to him and why he thinks it’s the Mayweather Jr. record in MMA.

“Honestly, I don’t know,” Nurmagomedov said of when he wants to retire (via TheBodyLockMMA.com). “30-0 is going to be great. It’s looking good, it sounds good. 30-0, okay. It’s going to be a great record, this is like Mayweather in MMA. We’ll see, I’m very close to it.”

Nurmagomedov also said that his goal is to be the greatest MMA fighter of all time and he believes that beating Gaethje next weekend will help him achieve that goal for himself.

“Who knows? Okay, I finish Justin Gaethje, I finish one more guy, I dominate him — I think my name is going to be always in history. I think already my name is going to be in history because two years ago what happened [vs. McGregor] is never going to be forgotten. Even after 50 years, people are going to watch this fight and be impressed. This is like when Muhammad Ali fought [Joe] Frazier in Manila. People never forget this fight,” Nurmagomedov said.

“I’m already in history but I need legacy. For legacy, Justin Gaethje is a great opponent right now.”

Do you agree with Khabib Nurmagomedov that going 30-0 in MMA is the same as Floyd Mayweather Jr. going 50-0 in boxing?