The Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov with a victory over the Irishman Conor McGregor. Putin met with an athlete on Wednesday after the ‘Russia is a Sports Power’ forum. The father of the fighter Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov also took part in the meeting.
“My congratulations,” Putin said, welcoming the winner. He also jokingly suggested that Khabib ask the athlete's father not to punish his son much for the scandalous trick after the fight. “I’ll ask dad not to punish him severely,” the head of state joked.
According to Putin, Nurmagomedov solved the main task – he won convincingly. “Still, you decided the main task - won with dignity and convincingly,” Putin said. The head of state also drew attention to the fact that sporting ideals should be more important than earnings.
“I want to express the hope that, after all, the ideals of sport - they will be above all - above earnings, advertisements. I mean, first of all, your rivals’ team. And in the end, ways will be found for normal communication, male friendship, sports. Sport serves precisely these goals," said the president.
Putin is confident in the positive outcome of the Nurmagomedov case. During the conversation with the head of state, Nurmagomedov told him about the provocations that caused his aggressive behavior. "I behaved with dignity. But, of course, I couldn’t control either. Because the provocations continued during the battle. I hope that the trial that is under way will be in our favor," said Nurmagomedov.
