Russian Mixed Martial Arts fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father has died at 57 after contracting the coronavirus, Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov announced Friday.
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was flown to Moscow from Chechnya after catching Covid-19 in mid-May, at one point being placed in a medically induced coma. Nurmagomedov said last week that his father remained in intensive care with kidney and heart complications despite recovering from Covid-19.
“Sad news has reached me, friends, that Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov has left this world,” Kadyrov said on his Telegram social media page.
“He left us leaving behind a good name and having raised a worthy generation.”
Khabib Nurmagomedov, 31, is the reigning UFC lightweight champion and has the longest active undefeated streak in MMA. His father trained him from an early age.
Nurmagomedov has not yet confirmed the news of his father’s death.
Dagestan, a small region in Russia’s mountainous Caucasus region neighboring Chechnya, has faced what officials have called a “catastrophic” outbreak of Covid-19. President Vladimir Putin has sent additional equipment and dispatched Moscow health workers to help their Dagestani colleagues deal with the outbreak.
Nurmagomedov’s funeral will be held on Friday or Saturday in the village of Kirovaul where he lived, the village head told the state-run TASS news agency.
