UFC 311 was nothing short of a rollercoaster ride for the Dagestani team. The team entered with three fighters, Tagir Ulanbekov, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Islam Makhachev. However, only Makhachev and Ulanbekov were able to secure a victory at the event. ‘Young Eagle’ on the other hand, experienced the first ever defeat of his fighting career. And now, it was time for judgment from the coach, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

‘The Eagle’ took to Instagram and shared a picture of himself along with Javier Mendez standing beside the Octagon during the fights in Intuit Dome, California. In the caption, he admitted that he had a rough night at UFC 311, and then proceeded to give his verdict on Makhachev. He wrote, “[Islam Makhachev] has once again proven that he is the best in the world right now, and I am very happy for him and the journey he has taken in this sport, in the history of mixed martial arts, very few fighters have achieved what he has achieved.” Nurmagomedov asked him to keep on grinding because this wasn’t the end of the road. 

Then, Nurmagomedov switched focus to his younger cousin. He advised, “[Umar Nurmagomedov] keep your head up Junior, you showed yesterday that you are one of the best in the world, at the moment we have a lot to work on, work on the mistakes and get back to the title race.” Of course, the one thing that the bantamweight contender can do is avoid fighting with an injury. The result might have been different if his hand were alright. But the title picture for ‘Young Eagle’ still remains in sight. 

And as far as Ulanbekov was concerned, he succeeded in making Nurmagomedov happy with his performance. However, that wasn’t enough. ‘The Eagle’ wrote, “[Tagir Ulanbekov] did a good job and made me very happy, but I know he can do even better, this year we need to win a couple more fights (top emoji) don’t forget about our target (target emoji) Bro.”

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s verdict pushed the fighting community to go down to the comments section and express themselves. Belal Muhammad and Manel Kape dropped 3 red heart emojis each, to express their appreciation for Nurmagomedov’s verdict. Cody Garbrandt also joined the others and dropped a salute emoji to express his respect for the former champion. But what did the fans have to say? 

Netizens offer mixed reactions as Khabib Nurmagomedov assesses Islam Makhachev and others

Although many consider Nurmagomedov one of the greatest coaches ever, some netizens believe that it was his wrongful guidance that put the defeat in his cousin’s career. A fan wrote, “Khabib, you should not have told him to change his gameplan to wrestling after round two… it cost him the fight.” Another fan commented, “Maybe you should learn to coach instead of just screaming at umar the entire fight.”

Meanwhile, many others kept backing ‘Young Eagle’. It was nothing but a hurdle in his career, and Umar Nurmagomedov could still heal his left hand and jump back into action. A fan weighed in on this and wrote, “Everything is still ahead! Umar will come back strong! InsALLAH.” Another fan commented, “Umar has a chance to pounce back and become unstoppable and the biggest proof is islam after he got his first loss.” It was indeed a learning curve for the 29-year-old. And that’s what the fans pointed out by quoting, “Congrats guys …Great learning experience for Umar.”

Some fans, on the other hand, began to worry about the kind of punishment Nurmagomedov had in store for his teammates. Well, the Dagestani team is infamous for indulging in harsh training regimes. And these regimes are what make them some of the strongest fighters in the world. One fan sarcastically sympathized with ‘Young Eagle’ and wrote, “Poor Umar khabib gonna work him to the ground now for cardio.” Another fan commented, “Khabib boutta make everyone do 10 hours of sprints as punishment.” Nevertheless, some netizens believed ‘The Eagle’ was a pretty “cool mentor for them.”

What do you think about Nurmagomedov’s assessment? Would you like to add something to his judgment? If you do, take to the comments section and keep the conversation flowing.