Editor’s note: This article originally was published on MMAJunkie.com.
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MMA star Khabib Nurmagomedov and Muhammad Ali have two things in common: They’re both champions and Muslims.
Aside from those, however, Nurmagomedov doesn’t think there are any other similarities and considers it a sign of disrespect to Ali, the legendary boxing champion who died in 2016, that they would be compared.
“I like that people compare us, but I think it is inappropriate,” Nurmagomoedov told True Gym MMA in Russian.
Ali, who won an Olympic gold medal before upsetting Sonny Liston to become heavyweight champion in 1964 at age 22, is considered by many to be the greatest boxer of all time and one of the most important figures of the 20th century for his political activism during the turbulent 1960s.
Ali spoke out against racial injustice, and in 1966 refused to be drafted into the military because of his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War, after which he was stripped of his titles and sentenced to prison time for draft evasion (though the conviction was later overturned on appeal). He didn’t fight for three-and-a-half years, as a result.