Khabib Nurmagomedov is a retired lightweight in UFC, who has strong opinions on training and work ethic. The former Dagestani lightweight champion expressed harsh views on what comes under MMA training. He claimed that most MMA fighters mis-conceptualized the idea of an MMA training session.
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‘The Eagle’ coached the likes of Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and Belal Muhammad. And, his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, taught him the techniques of grappling and wrestling.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is a tough coach to work with
Khabib Nurmagomedov expressed his views on fitness training against actual MMA training in a press conference on Nov 20, at Meridian Hall Toronto. The former lightweight champion was a strict coach, according to one of his students, Belal Muhammad. He joked and said, “Ok, if you guys wanna do fitness, around the world, millions and millions girls doing this same training like you….”
Nurmagomedov is very particular about the training an MMA fighter must go through to become a champion. Also, he famously coached Islam Makhachev to defeat Charles Oliveira and earn himself a lightweight championship. Because of this achievement, we can conclude that he knows a thing or two about the right kind of training.
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Despite his success, Coach Nurmagomedov didn’t allow the champion to rest. However, he made him work harder to achieve the pound-for-pound title.
Through his experience in coaching young fighters, ‘The Eagle’ quoted “It’s like some people like when they just join with my training, they don’t understand like… a lot of things.” “Right now, guys in MMA, they do a lot of stuff they supposed to not do, you know.”
‘The Eagle’ believes grappling and wrestling training is crucial
Khabib Nurmagomedov expressed his disregard for MMA fighters doing fitness training, hoping to achieve results. But, he stated which training is truly necessary for a champion. “I told my guys always if you wanna become a success (ful) MMA fighter”
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And stated, “You need, every day you have to grapple and wrestle 1 hour.”
“If you don’t wrestle and grapple one hour, every single day… This is not MMA training.”
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He joked about fitness training being such a common practice that millions of girls will be able to do it. And further stated that doing so will never be enough for an MMA fighter.
“You have to compete with fighters! You have to wrestle grapple…”
Khabib Nurmagomedov quoted this as being a common mistake that a lot of MMA fighters commit.
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