Khabib Nurmagomedov was largely dominant during his career, but he did survive one fear.
'The Eagle' reached a largely unparalleled level of dominance in the cage and won all 29 of his professional trips.
Before Nurmagomedov retired in 2020, the Dagestani defeated the will of Edson Barboza and Al Iiaquinta on his way to the UFC light weight title before he defended it against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
But although very few gave some form of threat to the elite struggling specialist, one of the last opponents of Nurmagomedov gave him a fear.
Khabib Nurmagomedov admitted that Dustin Poirier was very close to an entry at UFC 242
11 months after Nurmagomedov's UFC 229 victory over McGregor and a year before his last fight, the undefeated Russian opposite the then interim champion, Poirier.
The pair headed UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi, where a crowd full of Nurmagomedov-Loyalists witnessed 'The Eagle' who underwent the Diamond 'through the rear naked choke in round three.
But the triumph was not without a setback for the champion.
In round two, Poirier threatened to pull an almighty upset when he attacked Nurmagomedov's neck with a guillotine choke.
While he finally escaped, the Dagestani admitted during his press conference after the fight that the entry was a bit too close to comfort.
“The only thing that was very close was the guillotine,” said Nurmagomedov. “The first time it was a very good guillotine.
“The first time it was close by, the second time I gave him because I had the feeling that he lost so much energy, so much strength. This is part of the game; how I play with my opponents.”
The victory of Khabib Nurmagomedov in Dustin Poirier was monitored by approximately 26 million in Russia
If Poirier had found an extra squeeze to force a crane on UFC 242, Nurmagomedov would have lost his undefeated record for millions of his countrymen.
A report from Russia today after the event showed that the second lightweight title defense of the Dagestani UFC star had an incredible 26 million views about temporary employment platforms in Russia.
Further data indicated that 24 percent of adult viewers in Russia adjusted to the collision of Nurmagomedov with Poirier in Abu Dhabi.
Since he retired from the active MMA competition in 2020, Nurmagomedov has often appeared in the corners of his teammates and countrymen.
And the continuous involvement of the 36-year-old seems to have been established in sport after Nurmagomedov has unveiled plans for a new training center in his native Dagestan.