Khabib Nurmagomedov States He Lost Sponsors Due to Palestine Remarks

Former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov announced that he and several other Dagestani athletes lost their sponsors due to their support for Palestine and the residents of the Gaza Strip. He made this statement during a meeting with his fans in New Jersey, USA.

During the conversation, the renowned athlete and former UFC champion — the largest mixed martial arts organization — stated that due to public remarks on the situation in Palestine, not only he, but also UFC champion Islam Makhachev and PFL champion Usman Nurmagomedov, as well as several other athletes, lost their sponsorship contracts.

“Many sponsors do not want to work with some athletes who support Palestine. Forget about support, they are terminating contracts,” Nurmagomedov stated.

The champion did not specify which companies terminated contracts with him and his associates, nor the financial value of these contracts. He noted that the situation with casualties in Palestine constitutes genocide and urged athletes and other public figures not to remain indifferent to this issue. According to him, they themselves lost a significant amount of money due to this support, but money cannot be compared to human lives.

It can be noted that Khabib and several of his associates have repeatedly expressed support for Palestine. This includes Islam Makhachev, who spoke in support of Gaza residents after his victory over Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in June 2024. In October 2023, following his victory over Alexander Volkanovski, he also expressed his support for Palestinians.

Nurmagomedov himself, after UFC 302 in New Jersey, met with US President Donald Trump and asked him to work towards ending the war in Palestine. In response, Trump stated that he would stop it.