Khabib Says Father Abdulmanap Used to Disown Students Under One Condition

Perhaps the most important reason Khabib Nurmagomedov became the dominant champion and GOAT contender is his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. The elder Nurmagomedov, a former Combat Sambo coach in the Russian Army, started training Khabib as soon as he could walk. The coach left no stone unturned to make sure his son would become a legendary champion, famously even having a young Khabib wrestle with bear cubs as part of his training.

While the former Soviet Army man had one of the best minds as far as combat sports understanding is concerned, one of the things he demanded from his students was discipline. So much so that he would immediately cut ties with any students who went against his policy.

Khabib Nurmagomedov reveals why his father cut ties with troublesome students

In a video on the Instagram page of Gorilla FC, which Khabib owns, ‘The Eagle’ revealed that his father had a zero-tolerance policy for his students on one particular thing: getting into legal trouble. The former lightweight champion revealed that Abdulmanap would disown any of his students, and stop training them if he found out that the police had arrested them or they were even alleged to have committed a crime.

“If Abdulmanap got a call from the police at two o clock at night. And they say that ‘your athlete here’, [he would say] ‘He was my athlete. You just called, and he’s not my athlete anymore. Because he’s my athlete, he has to meet the requirements. If it doesn’t match my requirements, he needs to distance himself from the team if there’s anything in the box, [even one] spoiled tomato,'” revealed ‘The Eagle’.

This, according to Khabib, was because his father didn’t want any bad apples in his team, negatively influencing his other students. It is not surprising given Abdulmanap’s background. The elder Nurmagomedov was in the Soviet Army, where discipline and regimentation were the cornerstones.

It was during his army stint that Abdulmanap started training formally in Sambo and Judo, being familiar with wrestling already, as almost all Dagestani boys are. Some may agree with the coach’s zero-tolerance policy toward students getting into trouble, while others may disagree. However, what cannot be contested is that his methods certainly worked.

Throughout his coaching career, Abdulmanap trained 18 world champions in MMA, Sambo, and wrestling (including Khabib’s friend and successor Islam Makhachev). This is why his death in 2020 was so devastating and led Khabib Nurmagomedov to retire, even as there are signs that ‘The Eagle’ is getting back some of his competitive spirit.

Khabib claimed he wants to compete again

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired abruptly in 2020 after defeating Justin Gaethje at UFC 254. The reason behind this was his father’s death. Abdulmanap had passed away because of Covid-19 a few months before the Gaethje fight. And Khabib’s mother, who feared there was no one to properly protect and look after ‘The Eagle’s well-being after his father’s death, made him promise to retire.

This decision caused the former Dagestani champ, who was in his prime, to leave tens (possibly hundreds) of millions of dollars on the table from the fights he could have had. In addition, it stopped him from cementing his legacy as perhaps the greatest, most dominant mixed martial artist of all time. But ‘The Eagle’ has not looked back since and expressed his contentment at being retired.

Until last week, that is, when he made a social media post about wanting to compete after training with the younger guys. “Over time, the training schedule has changed, first I come and share knowledge, but in the end I still want to compete with the young ones,” he wrote. This caused many to speculate that the former champ may be looking to get back into action, and perhaps even resume his MMA career.

However, given his promise to his mother, that seems unlikely, and Nurmagomedov will probably look to scratch his competitive itch in the gym, while training or cornering other fighters. Do you think Khabib will make a comeback to UFC? Drop your views in the comment section.