Eagle FC CEO Rizvan Magomedov On 10 Years Of Working With Khabib Nurmagomedov

Rizvan Magomedov is the CEO of Eagle FC and the former President of International for Dominance Management. For the last ten years, he’s worked with people from every corner of the combat sports industry, from every corner of the world. But managing an athlete’s ego can be one of the most challenging parts of the job.

Khabib Nurmagomedov and Magomedov began working together in 2013, although the two have known each other for longer. “We’re from the same city and place and started our careers together,” Magomedov said.

However, despite Nurmagomedov’s status, Magomedov said he was one of the easiest clients to work with because of “his transparency, dedication, and professionalism in everything he does,” Magomedov said.

That relationship made Magomedov’s transition from agent to executive seamless.

Now, as the Eagle FC CEO, the puzzle is same like when he was an agent, albeit more pieces. “When you’re an agent for an athlete, you’re fighting for your athlete and their rights. First is always the client. No matter what, you have to get the best deal for them so they’re happy, mentally and economically,” Magomedov said.

“[But as CEO] there are a lot of different pieces of the puzzle you have to put together when you’re working with athletes, management, media, creative teams, contractors, vendors, then you have to find the consensus,” he said.

Magomedov On The Future Of Eagle FC

I asked Magomedov about his vision for Eagle FC. Is their plan to make it a regional powerhouse, like Cage Fury Fighting Championships, a promotion whose roots are deep in the Northeastern United States?

Do they want to position it as a feeder or step-up league whose goal is to scout the best local athletes early in their careers? Or is it to become a global promotion in which fighters at all levels aspire to compete?

There is no wrong answer, as each has its benefits and drawbacks. Much like their former client-agent relationship, Nurmagomedov and Magomedov are aligned on the vision for Eagle FC, too.

“Our highest goal, in five or six years, we’re going to build this organization to where an athlete will ask ‘Where do you want to fight one day? What’s your highest goal?’ and they’ll say Eagle, because that’s where the best fighters will be.”

Magomedov On The Biggest Mistake Promotions Make

Over the last ten years, Magomedov has studied other organizations. “We’re going to have mistakes. It’s inevitable. But if we’re going to build this business smart, we’ll look at what other ones are doing wrong, and learn from them too.”

The biggest problem Magomedov has found with other leagues is in marketing. “Many people sleep on this side, and this is their biggest mistake. Other organizations have had great fighters, great fights, but they don’t deliver the message to their audience.”

It was apparent marketing was a priority for Eagle FC in January 2022. The search term “Eagle FC” went from zero to a peak score of 100 on Google Trends in 4-days.

The spike in search volume coincided with the release of a video featuring MMA household names Chael Sonnen, Henry Cejudo, Kamaru Usman and Nurmagomedov discussing Eagle FC 44 that reached 673,041 views in 7-days, according to VidIQ.

Following the event on January 28th, Dominance Management CEO Ali Abdelaziz tweeted that “viewership numbers will blow your mind,” although I could not find the exact viewership numbers.