Khabib Nurmagomedov has named the fighter that hit him harder than any opponent he ever faced.

The Russian is one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time and has won all of his 29 fights. Throughout his career, Khabib has faced a number of tough opponents, that include Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

However, when talking about the fighter that hit him the hardest, he singled out Justin Gaethje, who he beat inn the last bout of his career.

Speaking on Mike Tyson's podcast, Nurmagomedov said: "This guy [Justin Gaethje] hit like a truck, you know. Nobody hit me harder than Justin Gaethje. His kick, his punch, his left hook, right hook, right uppercut.

"I make him hit me, you know. When I go to the cage and I was sitting like, ‘Okay, I’m going to go, I’m going to bring him into the deep ocean.

"I’m going to make him tired in stand-up and I’m going to bring him on the ground and finish him.”

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Despite all his power hitting, Gaethje was submitted by Khabib in the second round by a triangle choke.

This was the last fight of the Russian's illustrious career as he retired from MMA, mostly due to his father's death. However, he is still active in the sport as a promoter.

Many would be surprised that Nurmagomedov singled out The Highlight ahead of the likes of McGregor and Poirier. However, it might have been someone else had he fought Tony Ferguson.

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Gaethje recently registered the 23rd win of his career by defeating Michael Chandler at UFC 268. The fight was tightly contested with both fighters putting on a good show. Eventually, The Highlight won by unanimous decision with the scores 29-28, 29-27, 30-27.

He is now expected to fight for the lightweight championship against the winner between Charles Oliveira and Dustin Poirier at UFC 269.

However, Khabib has said that Islam Makhachev deserves the title shot ahead of Gaethje.