After Dana White officially confirmed that Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov would be involved in high-profile fights at UFC 311, the news drew a response from Khabib Nurmagomedov. He reacted by posting a message on Instagram about how it would be a historic night and hoped to “survive.” Khabib has coached both Islam and Umar and will be in their corner for the January 18 event. Khabib’s coaching skills will be put to the test and he is determined to have both the fighters prepared for their big night.

Islam Makhachev will be defending his 155lbs gold against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC’s first PPV card of 2025. ‘The Eagle’ will be in the corner of the lightweight champion, hoping to guide him to yet another successful defense. But if that wasn’t enough, Khabib’s cousin, Umar, will be in the co-main event for the bantamweight title against Merab Dvalishvili and Khabib will be accompanying the ‘Young Eagle’ to the octagon.

It promises to be a long and eventful night for the former UFC Champion and he is determined to ensure that both of his proteges are completely prepared for their respective fights.

Taking to his Instagram story, Khabib posted a message for both Islam and Umar, indicating that rigorous training awaits them. “I’LL TAKE CARE OF YOU IN A COUPLE OF DAYS. BE PREPARED @UMAR_ NURMAGOMEDOV @ISLAM MAKHACHEV,” Khabib wrote on Instagram.

Khabib returned to Islam’s corner at UFC 302, having missed his previous two fights, and saw him prevail over Dustin Poirier. He also returned as a corner man for his cousin Umar at UFC on ABC 7 in August this year, having last been in his corner at UFC 272 in March 2022. Earlier when the UFC 311 match card was first announced, Khabib shared his excitement in an Instagram post with a hint of worry for himself.

“Two title fights at once! I think it’s never happened before, or hasn’t happened until now… What a night is waiting for me, I hope I’ll survive,” he wrote in a post. Other than Islam and Umar, one of Khabib’s teammates Tagir Ulanbekov will also be in action at UFC 311, squaring off against Clayton Carpenter in the prelims. Indeed, it will be a long night for Khabib and his predicament was also addressed by Islam Makhachev.

At the UFC 311 presser, Makhachev said, “We try to make it easy but it’s gonna be long night from him (Khabib Nurmagomedov). From the card opening Tagir Ulanbekov fighting the first fight, myself, Omar… I feel bad about Khabib. It’s gonna be long night for him.”

The first fight Khabib will be cornering at UFC 311, of course, is the most important fight of his cousin’s life so far. Umar will fight reigning champ Merab Dvalishvili for the latter’s first 135lbs title defense. The champ, of course, had been totally against the idea of fighting Umar initially since he felt that the Dagestani had an easy road to the top of the division by virtue of being Khabib’s cousin.

However, Dana White surprisingly revealed that Dvalishvili himself demanded the fight from him a few days ago, apparently tired of being ‘disrespected’ by Umar, who had been accusing ‘The Machine’ of ducking him. The fight promises to be intense and both fighters nearly got into a scuffle at the UFC 311 presser.

Umar Nurmagomedov and Merab Dvalishvili get into a war of words before the UFC 311 presser

On Friday, before the UFC 311 presser, the bantamweight champion Dvalishvili stepped away from an interview and confronted his upcoming challenger. The two got close momentarily as Dvalisvhili asked Nurmagomedov why he had disrespected him. Security got in the way and kept the two fighters apart.

They whisked Umar away and Merab got back to his interview. Umar earned a title shot when he defeated Cory Sandhagen by unanimous decision during his first UFC main event on August 3. The 28-year-old holds an impressive 18-0 record. On the other hand, Dvalishvili is on an impressive 11-fight win streak and has an overall record of 18-4.

He won the bantamweight title after defeating Sean O’Malley at UFC 306. The fight between the two will be an intense battle and Khabib’s presence in Umar’s corner might just prove to be the difference.