Islam Makhachev is practicing hard every day for the upcoming fight with Dustin Poirier in UFC 302 and taking the best possible guidance from none other than Khabib Nurmagomedov. The lightweight champion is already gearing up for Poirier’s infamous guillotine choke and has one solace; Nurmagomedov is going to be present in his corner at UFC 302.

‘The Eagle’ delighted Makhachev with the news that he was going to return this week to help his protégé when he fights, ‘The Diamond’ inside the octagon. Meanwhile, an interesting video uploaded by Nurmagomedov is making rounds to show the grit and hard work that goes on inside his camp. The Hall of Famer also stole the limelight by giving his take on Makhachev’s preparation for the bout. 

Khabib Nurmagomedov reflects on UFC 302

The video was a short excerpt from the UFC 302 training camp where Khabib is training Makhachev to beat Poirier. While showing the intense grappling sessions in the video, Khabib came in with his verdict on how Makhachev was performing. He said, “Today was Islam’s last hard sparring session. He worked very well and feels good. His weight is on schedule, according to the program. We had good training sessions, good sparring, heavy bag work, and finished with about 25 minutes of grappling as usual.”

According to Makhachev’s friend/coach, the training seemed to be going well and everything was in order. However, he isn’t underestimating Dustin Poirier as in the previous video on his YouTube channel, Nurmagomedov recalled his experience of fighting ‘The Diamond’, saying, “Many people underestimate Dustin Poirier. I personally fought him, spent three rounds and over 10 minutes with him, and I have a good sense of his strengths and weaknesses. We are working hard on these aspects.”

Meanwhile, Islam Makhachev is elated because he is going to have ‘The Eagle’ in his corner for the first time after two years. Following his retirement, Nurmagomedov was only involved in coaching and was last spotted at Makhachev’s corner in UFC 280 against Charles Oliveira. 

Islam Makhachev is happy with Khabib’s return

For several months, ‘The Eagle’ has been training Makhachev to help him win the fight against Poirier. They have uploaded videos of their training on social media and the 29-0 legend has been training his camp judiciously. A few days ago these videos created a rumor of Nurmagomedov’s supposed return to Makhachev’s corner, which turned out to be true. “Eagle is landed in Jersey City. He’s gonna be in my corner,” confirmed Islam Makhachev in a video posted by UFC.

Makhachev was excited about this reunion because this might change the whole face of the fight. Dustin Poirier has fought ‘The Eagle’ before and thus, Nurmagomedov knows Poirier’s pressure points. This can help the 32-year-old get the best tips during the fight and an upper hand on the famous guillotine choke.

Speaking further in the video, Makhachev mentioned, “Honestly, I’m very happy because he’s one of the best corner coaches, brother, friend. That’s it.” The Dagestani’s comeback will make UFC 302 a more intriguing event than it already is. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below.