Famed UFC Coach Javier Mendez Gets Real About His Protégé Khabib Nurmagomedov and His True Place in the Gym

The AKA gym and team Eagle share a special relationship. When Khabib Nurmagomedov came to America, he found a longtime gym, a mentor, and a head coach in Javier Mendez. Now that the former UFC lightweight champion has transitioned into the role of a coach and coaches fighters from Dagestan, coach Javier Mendez shares how they get along with each other at AKA.

On ‘The Schmozone’ podcast episode 95 with The Schmo and Helen Yee, AKA head coach Javier Mendez said-

“A lot of people don’t know. Khabib is more of a coach than I am. I’m more the mentor to Khabib. And I am a coach to all those other guys. But the show with the Eagle Dagestan boys is run by Khabib. Even though they say I’m the head coach, it’s really Khabib. He’s really the head coach. But I’m his mentor, and I’m his head coach. So, in, in a roundabout way, I am the head coach. But I’m really not.”

Coach Mendez also shared a story about the one time he was waiting for the team to train at Apex. On the day of the training, coach Nurmagomedov called him to inform him that he wanted Mendez to take the day off since they were doing grappling.

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Javier Mendez added that this is quite normal with his Dagestan pupils, however, he has no issues with it. He concluded by saying that all the fighters from Dagestan, who train with him, are very respectful to him.

Khabib Nurmagomedov turned into one of the best coaches after his retirement

‘The Eagle‘ stepped inside an MMA cage 29 times and won all 29 of his fights. At the time he retired from the sport, he was the pound-for-pound number one fighter in the UFC. While ‘The Eagle’ was dominant as a fighter, coach Khabib has been equally impressive.

After his impromptu retirement, the former UFC lightweight champion took his knowledge of the sport to help his fellow fighters and became a coach. In his new role, he has cornered many of his fighters to wins in both UFC and Bellator.

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What do you think of Javier Mendez’s words about his relationship with Khabib Nurmagomedov? Let us know in the comments.