Islam Makhachev is better than Khabib Nurmagomedov is one way, says their coach
Javier Mendez is one of the greatest coaches in MMA. The Mexican has trained UFC champions like Luke Rockhold, Cain Velasquez, and Daniel Cormier.
And perhaps his greatest is Khabib Nurmagomedov. The Russia Sambo master went 29-0-0 in his professional MMA career before calling it quits last year.
There was barely a moment where Khabib looked like he would lose a fight inside the octagon. A master of the sport, ‘The Eagle’ soared to unscalable heights.
But there was one way where Mendez, his coach, was not quite pleased with him. The trainer was with The Schmo earlier this week and he revealed how Islam Makhachev was a great listener, unlike Khabib.
“My overall thoughts is, he did fantastic. I wish Khabib, when he was fighting, would do that; listen. You know, Khabib doesn’t listen. When I look back, when he fought for the title, he stood. And I didn’t want him to stand.”
The discussion above was regarding the performance of Makhachev in his lightweight bout with Drew Dober at UFC 259.
The Russian won via submission in round 3 and revealed after the fight that he could have exchanged blows with Dober but opted to go the easier way with wrestling.
And with Mendez’s comments, it now seems that he was instructed to do so. That’s a good sign and despite it making the fight ‘not so fun’ for the average viewer, it plays to his strengths.
Khabib was brilliant at what he did and he probably could have afforded to follow his own wishes inside the ring.
After all, the man has never lost a fight inside the octagon and is the #1 men’s pound-for-pound fighter in the UFC despite being retired.
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