Khabib apologizes to Afghan fans

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov apologized to his Afghan fans. The Russian had previously come under harsh criticism from his followers for his lack of any stance on the events in Afghanistan.

"The reaction was that I did not want to comment on politics. The reaction I got was violent from fans in Afghanistan. Revisited the response, it was incorrectly stated there that it's none of my business what's over a thousand miles away. I have a very close relationship with their people. There are a lot of Afghans living near San Jose, I have friends there from different walks of life. They misunderstood me. I didn't want to comment on the political situation. I would like to apologize, I hope they will forgive me. I had other things on my mind when I spoke. Again, I just didn't want to touch politics.

"Afghanistan has seen a lot in my lifetime. It hurts for these people, I'm worried about them. I want to wish them all the best," Khabib said.