Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts to Edson Barboza's UFC 330 retirement: "He's a legend"

Khabib Nurmagomedov, like many, witnessed Edson Barboza make his last octagon walk this past Saturday at UFC 330. Although he trained hard for his fight with Esteban Ribovics, he still suffered a brutal loss, and according to Nurmagomedov, the decision to retire afterward was the right one.

Khabib Nurmagomedov wishes Edson Barboza well

The main card of UFC 330 opened with a lightweight bout between Edson Barboza and Esteban Ribovics. It was Barboza's retirement fight, and was little more than a one-sided beatdown that ended with a second-round TKO loss for the Brazilian. One of his former opponents, Khabib Nurmagomedov, was also present at UFC 330, but as a cornerman for Islam Makhachev, who went on to defend his welterweight title against Ian Machado Garry in the main event. While helping Makhachev warm up backstage, Nurmagomedov reacted to Barboza's final fight and retirement, and the moment was filmed and later shared on YouTube by Anatomy of a Fighter (9:56):

"Long time ago, sport leave him, but today he leaves the sport too. This is happen. When you're 40 years old, you have to think your family. It's better. Family is better than to be beat up like this. This is my opinion, but he's a legend. A legend of this sport."

Following the loss, which was his fourth consecutive one, Barboza detailed his decision to retire in a backstage interview with Megan Olivi. It all boiled down to him not being able to compete at the highest level anymore. Talk of a possible retirement for Barboza isn't new though, as he has failed to reach the heights of his initial UFC run. Once he started facing high-profile fighters in the lightweight division, his undefeated run came to a violent end, including a crushing loss to Nurmagomedov.

The following thread is the history of Khabib Nurmagomedov's Global Scorecard data on Verdict.

It started with a dominating performance against Edson Barboza in December of 2017. pic.twitter.com/1FdS2Xtq0v

— Verdict (@VerdictMMA) October 25, 2020

The pair clashed at UFC 219, and Nurmagomedov authored a flawless performance that needed nothing except a finish. He smothered Barboza's kicks and applied relentless pressure as he outwrestled and battered him for three rounds to win via unanimous decision. Nurmagomedov also enjoyed a very different end to MMA than Barboza, retiring undefeated at 29-0 after submitting Justin Gaethje in round two to defend his lightweight title at UFC 254, and rejecting every offer to return to fighting since.