Khabib Nurmagomedov has raised $100,000 (Dh367,250) for Dustin Poirier’s charity by selling the American’s T-shirt following their recent fight at UFC 242 in Abu Dhabi.
The fighters exchanged shirts in the octagon immediately after Nurmagomedov had sealed a third-round submission victory in their lightweight unification bout at The Arena Yas Island on September 7.
The undefeated Russian, who took his professional mixed martial arts record to 28-0, promised to auction the T-shirt to raise money for Poirier’s Good Fight Foundation.
Speaking on Monday on Ariel Helwani’s MMA Show on ESPN, Poirier said: “I had no clue he was going to do that. He raised a lot of money. It was the biggest donation we’ve ever had with the foundation.
“Khabib donated $100,000 dollars. I believe all from the shirt; I don’t know if he auctioned it off or had someone offer him it. I’m not sure - I haven’t had a chance to speak with him personally and thank him. He donated the money; it’s in the foundation account.
“We’re going to do great things; he’s going to help a lot of people out with his donation. It’s incredible to see fighters donate things; just the growth the foundation has had in the last year and a half. I’m really grateful. Those things make me smile."
Poirier later confirmed on Twitter that UFC president Dana White had kept the promise made in his post-fight conference to match the donation. The former interim champion’s foundation has partnered with non-profit Fight For The Forgotten to help the Batwa pygmy children in Uganda after flash floods ruined the only clean water supply for the village’s school and orphanage.
Poirier had originally set a goal of $25,000, but said he had initially raised around $33,000 online and through the website.
“I’m going to hop on a call this week and talk more,” he said. “We set an overflow goal of $50,000 to build a few more water wells in neighbouring villages. We’ll see what we can to do to help. We demolished this goal we had.”
