Khabib Nurmagomedov believes the brother of the UFC’s biggest ‘What if’ is the future of MMA 

Khabib declares who he thinks is the future of MMA

With the former UFC lightweight champion now keeping a keen and close eye on the upcoming fighters in the sport, he has declared who he thinks is the ‘future of MMA’.

This past Friday, Nurmagomedov was in attendance at the PFL 2025 World Tournament Championships in Atlantic City, New Jersey, where he was cornering featherweight fighter Movlid Khaybulaev ahead of his title bout against Jesus Pinedo.

Khaybulaev went on to submit the former champion, winning himself $500,000 and the featherweight belt for 2025.

Someone else who was hoping to make it to the tournament championship is Russian prospect, Khasan Magomedsharipov, the younger brother of former UFC star, Zabit Magomedsharipov.

Zabit is widely regarded as one of the biggest ‘what if’ stories in UFC history after he shockingly retired from the sport to pursue a career as a doctor.

But although fans are devastated at the thought of never seeing Zabit fight again, the blow is softened by the fact that his younger brother is at the start of his MMA career and has an exciting future ahead of him, so much so, that Khabib has declared him as ‘the future’ of MMA.

Magomedsharipov’s manager claimed younger brother is ‘way better’ than Zabit

The 24-year-old is currently 10-0 in professional MMA and currently fights under the PFL banner in the featherweight division.

And with what is deemed as such an exciting career ahead, Zabit’s manager has claimed that Khasan is ‘way better’ than the former UFC star and that he would be in the top five of the rankings if he signed with the UFC now.