Khabib Nurmagomedov Photo: IC

When it comes to shoo-ins for the UFC Hall of Fame there are none more cast iron than Khabib Nurmagomedov.

The Russian mixed martial artist was announced as the headline inductee of the class of 2022 recently.

"Khabib is one of the greatest athletes to ever compete in professional sports," UFC President Dana White said. 

"No one dominated their opponents that way Khabib did, and to retire undefeated, as lightweight champion and the No.1 pound-for-pound athlete in the world is an incredible accomplishment. It will be an honor to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame this summer."

Nurmagomedov will be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in the summer when the 10th Annual UFC International Fight Week descends on Las Vegas, Nevada.

His 29-0 record in the promotion was matched with a No.1 spot in the pound-for-pound rankings when he retired but there are other numbers that tell the story of his record.

He had four title fight victories - the joint most of anyone among the UFC lightweight division - and 12 wins in the division, which is also tied as the record for the longest winning streak among UFC lightweights.

Nurmagomedov had another win in the welterweight division during his eight years in the UFC and that 13-fight streak is the joint third longest winning run in the history of the promotion.

He has other impressive stats too. His 21 takedowns against Abel Trujillo at UFC 160 is the most in a single UFC bout, while 59 in total is the second most in UFC lightweight history. The 88 significant ground strikes he landed on Michael Johnson at UFC 205 was the fourth most in a single UFC bout.

"The Eagle" has the third highest control time percentage in UFC lightweight division history (54.6 percent), third most control time (1:29:08) and third most top position time (1:04:28).

This is not to mention that he was half responsible for the UFC's biggest selling pay per view, for his fight against Conor McGregor.

Those days dominating the lightweight division seem distant memories - at least for those who saw how his body shape has changed since he stepped out of the octagon.

Nurmagomedov is comfortably heavier than his heyday, though he still looks dangerous at walking weight, and he could laugh about it with UFC reporter Megan Olivi.

Khabib Nurmagomedov (top) fights Dustin Poirier on September 7, 2019 in Abu Dhabi. Photo: IC

He told her he would not be returning as a lightweight before Islam Mamedov joked he could come back as a welterweight.

"He come to me, he come too close and goes 'Hey, you was lightweight?'" Nurmagomedov joked.

"Something like this, you know? Of course, now I am big because it's almost two years I'm done with fights. I try to enjoy it, I try to enjoy it. But every day I train, spend time in the gym with guys. But why I have to be lightweight? Finished."

In truth the soon to be half of famer is not coming back to the UFC as a fighter and he is concentrating on coaching.

He watched his cousin Umar win at UFC 272 last weekend, with the heir to the Nurmagomedov fighting lineage quickly submitting Brian Kelleher despite stepping up 10 pounds to fight.

It was not all good news for Nurmagomedov on the night as he suffered a second defeat as a coach, something he did not taste even once as a fighter, thanks to Tagir Ulanbekov.

That defeat followed on from Islam Mamedov losing to Benson Henderson at a Bellator event earlier this year.

It's a far cry from last year where Nurmagomedov introduced himself to the world of coaching his friends and former teammates with a 7-0 record over 2021.

Aside from coaching, he is a promoter with Eagle FC, his own MMA body.

Their first show in the US was last month and they have a second this weekend at the same venue in Miami, Florida.

"We're going to have one more this year, on the 20th May. This year I want to make seven shows here in the US. I'm not even talking about other shows, like, how many I'm going to make in Russia but here in the US I'm going to make seven shows this year," he said after the Eagle FC debut.

Nurmagomedov explained to Sky Sports he has changed very little moving from fighter to coach to promoter.

"I was doing this all my life. I am older in my team and I have to take over and control everything. Even when I was an active fighter, I was almost coaching because all these brothers - now they're still fighting, I'm retired now.

"And I'm older than all of them and I have to give them advice, I have to teach them, I have to coach them, you know. I was doing this all my life. And my father was a coach and I learnt from him a lot, so it wasn't hard.

"I feel like I have all this experience from before. This isn't like I was fighting and then from fighting I moved to coaching taking all my fighting experience. No, I was coaching before I became a UFC fighter. I was coaching for some children for four years in my father's gym and it was like 60 or 70 guys who I was training since 2008 and 09, 10, 11.

"When I became a UFC fighter I stopped because my father told me to focus on my career. Now that I've finished that I just came back. Nothing new."

His ambitions have certainly not changed in terms of the success he demands.

"I just want to become the best. I'm not here to become No.3 or No.2. I'm here to become the best promoter in the world. And we have developed a new system. We're going to change a couple of things, not a lot and after a couple of years I think people are going to understand who is who."

If he is half as good a promoter or coach as he was a fighter, then people will surely understand.