Russian Gold Medallist Wrestler, Banned From Olympics 2024, Reveals Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Advice for Him

Olympic gold medalist Abdulrashid Sadulaev has been making headlines after he got banned from competing in the 2024 Olympic Games. Amidst this, a video clip of one of Sadulaev’s interviews has surfaced online, where details about an up-close interaction with none other than Khabib Nurmagomedov came to light.

As an Olympic athlete, Abdulrashid Sadulaev hates the whole concept of missing out on training sessions. But one day, when he didn’t have a sparring partner, he came across Nurmagomedov. “With Khabib, I stayed at a hotel in Moscow. I try not to miss workouts and in the hotel where I lived, I went to the gym and trained there alone, and then Khabib comes in. I asked, and he became my sparring partner and we trained together,” Sadulaev stated in the resurfaced video on YouTube.

“He gave me a lot of good advice and motivated me for the Olympic games. ‘You have to leave everything behind and prepare. Give it your all and then you can rest.”

‘The Russian Tank’ is considered one of the best wrestlers in the world. His breakthrough moment was at the 2014 World Championships. He won in the 86kg category at age 18. And just two years later, he clinched gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics. But the question stands: Why did he get banned from the Paris Olympics?

“Sadulaev was declared ineligible after the panel found new information about his support of the Ukraine-Russia war… The decisions regarding eligibility were made by a panel, relying on comprehensive vetting reports provided by an independent and private intelligence service provider.” UWW said in a statement.

In the same video, when the interviewer asked if Sadulaev had any plans for MMA, the wrestler was quick to answer with “Never.” When inquired if MMA was not in the books for him even after the Olympics, Sadulaev then went on to justify that he is no longer at an age (28), wherein he can change sports and that fighting was not just his thing. Yet, this was not the only time he negated the idea of exploring MMA.

“I will never join the MMA. I do have many friends fighting in the MMA tournaments [and] I am watching their fights and I get emotional. However, I am enjoying my sport, which is spectacular, courageous, and without insults,” Sadulaev told TASS, a Russian news agency, back in 2019. The trash-talking aspect and the disrespect that sometimes fans witness among fighters in MMA is not something that’s to Abdulrashid Sadulaev’s liking.

Remember the build-up of Conor McGregor versus Khabib Nurmagomedov’s UFC 229 in 2018? The trash-talking and insults that flew around are remembered by the MMA community even today. They still cannot look each other in the eye. And Sadulaev knows that is something he doesn’t want.

Now that he cannot compete in Paris this year, Abdulrashid Sadulaev will have to wait for another four years before he can go for another gold medal. Meanwhile, what are your thoughts on his interaction with Khabib Nurmagomedov?