Father of Khabib Nurmagomedov Dies From COVID-19

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father and trainer of Khabib Nurmagomedov, has died after a series of complications from COVID-19 over the past two months.

The elder Nurmagomedov died due to brain injuries caused by a stroke after fighting the novel coronavirus disease. He suffered a heart attack in May and was a in a coma. Khabib stated on June 23 that his father no longer had COVID-19 but his “condition is still serious.” Other family members have died from the virus, the UFC lightweight champion said.

Relatives are already arriving his his native village of Kirovaul for a potential burial Friday.

Khabib’s father hospitalized in April

Abdulmanap was hospitalized in April in his home of Dagestan, where Khabib has been during the COVID-19 pandemic, with suspected pneumonia. He was transferred to Moscow in serious condition for further treatment.

The pneumonia led to a heart attack and he was placed in a coma those complications.

Though he initially tested negative for COVID-19, at some point later he tested positive, Khabib said in an Instagram video on May 18 confirming his obese father was hospitalized in critical condition.

Abdulmanap reportedly woke up from his medically induced coma on Thursday. He was placed in the coma after complications from pneumonia led to heart surgery. It appears that the pneumonia was a result of contracting COVID-19.

Though Avar in ethnicity, the Nurmagomedov family had settled in Ukraine in recent decades. Abdulmanap and his brothers studied and served in the Ukrainian military, and Khabib himself had competed while his father was waving Ukraine’s flag in his corner. Khabib’s formal applications for Ukrainian citizenship, however, had been denied by the government in Kiev.