Khabib Nurmagomedov 's father and trainer is in "bad condition" in hospital due to the coronavirus.He is also suffering a heart complication due to COVID-19, his son told MMA Junkie.
- The
UFC lightweight champion said more than 20 of his family members have been infected, adding: "Some of them are not with us anymore." - Nurmagomedov had previously been linked with a high-stakes UFC fight against Justin Gaethje later this summer, potentially at "Fight Island."
Khabib Nurmagomedov said his father and trainer
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, a combat sambo coach for the national team in Dagestan, woke from a medically-induced coma last week, MMA Junkie reported, regaining consciousness following heart surgery.
This week, Khabib Nurmagomedov said the surgery was because of coronavirus-related complications — and his father continues to battle the illness.
"My father is still at the hospital," Nurmagomedov said, according to a separate MMA Junkie article. "He's still going through this disease. He also had a heart complication due to COVID-19.
"Abdulmanap had surgery for his heart last year and also had the second one these days , so he is still in bad condition. That's all I can say."
Nurmagomedov added that many people in his family have been infected.
"More than 20 of my close relatives have suffered [from] COVID-19 and also had to stay in intensive care," he said. "Some of them are not with us anymore."
Nurmagomedov had been linked with a UFC return later this year
Nurmagomedov has not fought since his second round rear-naked-choke submission win over Dustin Poirier in September last year.
He was scheduled to defend his UFC lightweight championship against Tony Ferguson at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn on April 18.
The worsening spread of the coronavirus in New York nixed the UFC 249 show from the state. Unclear if or when the show would take place, Nurmagomedov flew back to Russia and then was unable to leave because the country went into lockdown.
He said in early April that "the whole world should be in quarantine."
Ferguson fought Justin Gaethje at a rearranged UFC 249 event in Jacksonville, Florida on May 9, losing in stunning fashion to the American striker, who won the interim lightweight title.
The UFC now plans to match Gaethje against Nurmagomedov, potentially on its mystery private island — dubbed "Fight Island" — later this summer.
But with the family tragedies Nurmagomedov is enduring, it is unclear when he will return to fighting.
"I want to thank all the people for your support, wishes, and your prayers," Nurmagomedov said, as reported by MMA Junkie.
"I also wish all the best. Be safe and healthy. Thank you very much."
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