You may have noticed that Khabib Nurmagomedov wears a furry white hat to all of his UFC fights. Clearly, if you’re here, you’ve wondered what the hat is and why Khabib wears it. Well, let us explain!
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What is the significance of the hat?
The hat Khabib wears is called a Papakha (pronounced ‘puh-pah-hah’) and the reason he wears it is to promote the rich heritage of his home country, Dagestan.
The Papakha is traditionally worn by men in the Caucasus region. This area includes Transcaucasia, in which Dagestan belongs to.
The hat is made from sheep wool and is a very important part of a man’s identitiy in these mountainous regions.
Khabib: “It’s an honour for me because I have opportunity… I want people [to] know where I am from and I want to show people Dagestan, Dagestan culture, Dagestan history because they have [a] very big history in Dagestan and if I have [the] opportunity, why not?”
When did he start wearing the Papakha?
Khabib never used to wear this cultural headgear to fights, and he only started donning it to MMA events when he joined the UFC and was given a huge stage to promote it to.
Khabib: “My friends said, maybe you want to wear papakha because this is our culture and because the UFC is a very big stage and a very big platform. You can show our culture around the world,”
When Khabib is done mauling his opponents in the Octagon, he often puts his Papakha on top of Joe Rogan’s head when Rogan enters the cage to get the post-fight fighter reactions.
This may seem like a bit of light-hearted fun between the two friends, however, it has much more significance than that.
Giving your Papakha to another man is a sign of great respect in Dagestani culture. The headgear is a symbol of his culture, and he treats it with extreme respect.
Khabib: “I always take care of this and I never put this to baggage,” he said. “I always take this with me. Because sometimes you can lose your baggage. You never know. That’s why I always bring this with me.”
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