Coach Khabib Is Giving Islam Makhachev a Blueprint to Shut “Very Good” Guillotines of Dustin Poirier – “I Have Pain…”

Islam Makhachev is going to face Dustin Poirier at UFC 302 in a few days, and the training leading up to the fight is pretty intense. Both parties are training hard and forming strategies to defeat each other. The Dagestani fighter seems calm and composed, but it seems like he is not underestimating Poirier’s guillotine choke at all since it got Khabib to the floor. Everyone appears curious about Makhachev’s training process, and John McCarthy and Josh Thomson also talked about it recently and asked him about his tactics.

Islam Makhachev is training for the guillotine choke

During the interview with Big John McCarthy and Josh “The Punk” Thomson for Weighing In, Makhachev spoke about his training method against ‘The Diamond’s’ famous guillotine choke. He is defending his lightweight title, so he has to be prepared in all facets. Poirier is known for his dangerous guillotine chokes, and he fended off Benoit Saint Denis’ grappling with the same in UFC 299. Poirier also attempted a deep guillotine choke on Makhachev’s mentor and friend Khabib Nurmagomedov in their fight for UFC 242, but the latter won. 

Makhachev does not underestimate the guillotine choke but is also confident about his own Dagestani wrestling technique and is being trained for the fight by Nurmagonedov. When asked about his training, he said calmly, “For sure, we pay attention to this. Which I did yesterday the drills and I gave my neck and I have pain now you know.” The hosts started laughing at this honest confession from the champ. Makhachev elaborated, “I don’t want to give him more because he did practice because he had very good guillotine. He never finishes someone in the fight but if he jumps all the time and believe his guillotine, it means he has no bad guillotine. That’s why I will prepare; I have to pay attention to this.”

The Dagestani fighter gives all the credit where it is due but also kept a stance that till now Poirier has not been able to finish anyone with the choke. Meanwhile, Nurmagomedov is back in action and helping Makhachev out. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov joins Makhachev for UFC 302

The reigning lightweight champ and ‘The Eagle’ were neighbors when they were young and were brought into martial arts by the latter’s late father. Nurmagomedov’s father was a sambo trainer in the Russian military once. The two Dagestanis have grown up together and both became UFC champions. Khabib was always there, shouting instructions to him, and was a big part of Makhachev’s training. 

Nurmagomedov might have retired last year, but he has returned for his dear friend and is currently training him for UFC 302. ‘The Eagle’ shared a picture on social media to inform his fans that he has Makhachev’s back ahead of the fight. “Just landed 14 days before the @islam_makhachev fight #ufc302,” The Eagle wrote after posting a picture on Instagram. 

Even though Makahchev has all the help and strategies in place, he still does not underestimate the guillotine choke at all. And maybe McCarthy was right when he said, “You can’t be silly he’ll jump the gilly!”