It is safe to say that few figures have cast a longer shadow than Khabib Nurmagomedov inside the Octagon. His legendary career stands as the undeniable proof of this claim. However, things go to another level when that aura is legitimized with a tale. Through the weathered eyes of Stephen Thompson—a man who has witnessed the brutal evolution of the sport for over a decade—comes a fable of fear that spread through the lightweight division like a winter chill. Due to his relentless grappling, fighters knew that they would be drowning on dry land for twenty-five minutes while the Dagestani whispered to them about his plans to change their face.

Claiming that ‘The Eagle’ took his opponents into deep waters, the former 170lbs title challenger said as he appeared on a recent segment of the JAXXON podcast. “I’ve seen guys, even at the highest level, get in an uncomfortable situation and they’re looking for a way out. Khabib puts sides in there all the time. Dudes are looking for a way out, you know what I mean? Like, ‘Oh, man. He’s beating me up, he’s talking to me. Let me turn my back and let me act like I want to defend this choke.’ That’s what looks like to me, anyway.”

“[Khabib wears down his opponent] psychologically and physically, both. Number one, he’s wearing you down. As soon as you get back up, you’re going back down. That’s tiring… super tiring,” Stephen Thompson added. “Not only that, he’s saying, ‘This is my time.’ He’s beating him up. ‘Just give up. Just quit. Just stop’, you know what I mean? He’s talking to him. Just mentally breaking them.”

‘Wonderboy’ observed that after analyzing all of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s fights, the Dagestani phenom possessed an unparalleled level of control—both mentally and physically—over his opponents inside the Octagon. According to him, many of Khabib’s adversaries would ultimately give up, though they tried to conceal it from the watching world.

One of the most glaring verbal exchanges took place when ‘The Eagle’ fought Michael Johnson. As the latter found himself dominated throughout the whole fight, Nurmagomedov would tell him, while putting the beating on him, to simply quit instead of taking the fight further than it had to. “You have to give up, I need to fight for the title,” the Dagestani phenom said during the fight.

“I was kind of crouched down, and I couldn’t really move around. Bro, he’s good and strong. He felt like a middleweight, and that’s a problem,” the veteran 155fer recently revealed while recalling his fight against Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Meanwhile, ‘The Eagle’ may not be one for trash talk at press conferences, but inside the cage, it’s a different story. His in-fight verbal exchanges add another layer of psychological warfare, leaving his opponents struggling to regain their composure while attempting to survive his relentless pressure.

Meanwhile, ‘The Eagle’ may not be one for trash talk at press conferences, but inside the cage, it’s a different story. His in-fight verbal exchanges add another layer of psychological warfare, leaving his opponents struggling to regain their composure while attempting to survive his relentless pressure. Some people believe that Conor McGregor is a prime example of how fighters change after fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov. The consensus among fans is that ‘The Notorious’ was never the same after that loss, and has since racked up more losses than wins and hasn’t fought for almost four years.

All of this is pretty shocking when we see that critics once whispered about Nurmagomedov’s early record, suggesting his path was paved with sacrificial lambs. Yet as ‘The Eagle’ soared into the UFC’s unforgiving spotlight, those whispers were smothered beneath the weight of his relentless assault—a suffocating blanket of Dagestani wrestling that transformed confident champions into desperate survivors. The 29-0 record stands like an ancient monolith—perfect and undisturbed—as Nurmagomedov walked away at his peak, leaving only legends and the lingering question among fighters who faced him: “Was it all just a terrible dream?”

Well, many fighters have spoken about what it feels like to fight Khabib. And in all of their confessions, the fact that he was an absolute beast stands out the most. Let’s take a look at some of their comments!

Former rivals reveal what it was like fighting Khabib Nurmagomedov

Well, one of the most legendary fighters to have never won a UFC title, Dustin Poirier, seemed to be pretty praiseful of Khabib Nurmagomedov for his technical ability. He had answers for almost every move he threw at him in their lightweight title bout at UFC 242. “His position and his balance were so good. He knew where my weight was, where it needed to be to get in a better position,” ‘The Diamond’ stated in a past interview.

While Poirier’s out here praising Khabib for his technique, fellow former interim champ, Justin Gaethje, claimed to have felt the jitters before stepping inside the Octagon. “When I fought Tony Ferguson, the morning I woke up, my heart rate was between 33 and 36. The morning I woke up at Abu Dhabi [to fight Khabib], it was at 68,” Justin Gaethje revealed on the Full Send MMApodcast.

Khabib Nurmagomedov would finish ‘The Highlight’ the same way he did defeat Dustin Poirier, which was by submission in the second round. The Hall of Famer’s legacy is now being carried by his younger teammates and cousins, including Islam Makhachev. However, none of them has had quite the impact that he had on the sport, which is a testament to how big of a star he really is. Let us know your thoughts in the comments down below!