Road to UFC 249 Gets Tough for Khabib Nurmagomedov as AKA Closes Doors

UFC 249 has an undecided fate. UFC President, Dana White, has given the assurance that the show will happen. The venue is one of the many issues to deal with regarding the event. One half of the main event, Khabib Nurmagomedov, has bigger issues to worry about. He will have to find a new place to train as his gym, AKA, has shut down its doors.

The American Kickboxing Academy is where Khabib Nurmagomedov trains while he is in the USA. The message posted on the official website notified that the gym will be closed indefinitely. “We are following the mandates given by the country to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus”.

Khabib Nurmagomedov will, hopefully, battle Tony Ferguson on April 18th. There are a lot of questions that still need to be answered regarding the event. However, with his usual place not being available, Khabib will have to stir things up a bit in training.

AKA has been home to many champions apart from Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov isn’t the only UFC champion coming out of AKA. Former UFC two-division champion, Daniel Cormier, also fights out of the California based gym. He and Khabib are long time friends and training partner. Also former UFC Heavyweight champion, Cain Velasquez, trained at AKA.

It was due to Cain’s presence at the Heavyweight division that Cormier fought at Light Heavyweight. He did it so that he wouldn’t have to face his friend and training partner in the quest for UFC gold. This is the testimonial of the fact that the Academy houses one of the best relationships among professional competitors.

Apart from these, Luke Rockhold, Germaine de Randamie, Gray Maynard, Andre Arlovski and Lyoto Machida are other big names that have trained at the gym.

Khabib’s father believes that Tony vs Khabib can take place in Dubai. If that is the case, then Khabib will be closer to the fight location if he trains from his home itself in Dagestan. That was he can be under the tutelage of his father. Furthermore, he can have his father in his corner for advice as well. Something he hasn’t been able to have if the fight takes place in the USA.