Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov recently had a conversation with professional esports competitor Cem Bölükbaşı, where he spoke about his thoughts on competitive gaming.
Nurmagomedov confronted the esports professional with an assessment of the gaming industry. “How many millions of people, they spend 10 years of their best life? You know, from 17 to 27. They spend their life on computer games,” the former champion stated.
Bölükbaşı attempted to draw parallels between gaming and traditional athletics, pointing out that success rates are similarly low in both fields. “It’s the same in every sport, only one or two make it,” he argued.
But Nurmagomedov was quick to dismiss the comparison.
“In sport, you have healthy. When you sit, eating [in esports],” the Dagestani star responded. “When you come to the gym, even you don’t become, like, UFC champion, but at least you know people.”
He continued his critique by addressing what he perceives as the isolating nature of competitive gaming: “When you’re sitting and playing computer games, like, your mind is changed.”
The former lightweight king, who retired from mixed martial arts with a perfect 29-0 record, emphasized the social and educational benefits of physical training. “For example, in gym, you meet people. This is social, you know, you meet people, you know people, you can talk,” he explained. By contrast, he expressed deep skepticism about the value of time spent gaming: “Come on, brother, there is no education.”
The champion has previously spoken about the challenging conditions he endured during his combat career, including training camps in the mountains where he and his teammates slept on the floor, bathed in springs, and went without modern conveniences like television or internet access.
“We didn’t have the greatest conditions there; we slept on the floor and trained outside. We ran on stones up the mountains, old school style,” Nurmagomedov recalled in a previous interview.
He described how some training partners would arrive at camp and quickly depart upon discovering the conditions. “Some guys came and saw that we had no TVs, for example. The guy keeps going and asks: ‘Do you have Wi-Fi?’ Oh, there’s no Wi-Fi here… What about showers?”
His father, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, would observe these departures with little concern. “He’d always say: ‘If we lose him, we’re not losing anything. Guys eliminated themselves,'” Khabib remembered.
During the exchange with the esports player, he made no apologies for his strong stance. “But in computer games, come on, I’m a big ha ter, brother, please, come on,” he admitted.
