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MMA Royalty Randomly Showed Up at the Rocky Steps
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Some of the best MMA fighters on the planet were in Philadelphia this week:
The obligatory Rocky picture is a little worn out at this point, but when you put Khabib Nurmagomedov up there, it hits pretty hard. Khabib was 29-0 when he retired from the UFC more than five years ago, if you can believe it.
He’s in the area with his team because Islam Makhachev is fighting Jack Della Maddalena for the welterweight title at Madison Square Garden next Saturday. I guess they just stopped in Philly ahead of time? Are they home basing here? Who knows, but we welcome them. Islam is 27-1 and recently vacated the lightweight title to move up to 170 and try to become a two-division champ. Also in the photos you’ll see PFL and Bellator champ Usman Nurmagomedov, and then various team members.
And if you’re wondering, like I was, why there is a Rocky statue on the steps, apparently they added a temporary one earlier in the year and never took it down. So now there’s a statue at the base of the steps, and one on the steps. Go figure.
We need to get Khabib out to an Eagles game before he heads back to Russia. Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov hyping up the Eagles crowd. Would be pretty sick. “Alhamdullilah, tomorrow night, we’re going to smash your boy. We’re going to smash your Cow-boy.”
Kevin has been writing about Philadelphia sports since 2009. He spent seven years in the CBS 3 sports department and started with the Union during the team's 2010 inaugural season. He went to the academic powerhouses of Boyertown High School and West Virginia University. email - k.kinkead@sportradar.com