Why Khabib Nurmagomedov Is Such a Good Fighter?
Khabib is not just a dominant UFC champ. He is one of the greatest 155lbs fighters in the history of MMA and a hero to many people. His run in MMA has been amazing and he is synonymous with destruction inside the MMA cage.
It’s fair to say the MMA world has never seen a fighter with such a relentless fighting style. He is a grappling wizard and a true artist who always makes his act look simple in the eyes of regular people.
He is a man possessed, who simply likes to maul people and beat the soul out of them. But outside of the cage, he is a humble person and a religious man who defines the life of modern society.
There are many reasons why Khabib is such a good fighter. We realized his actions inside the cage are just a single piece of a more complex puzzle. To find out who he always gets what he wants, we have to search for deeper answers.
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A Dagestan warrior mentality
Khabib grew up in a rough setting of Dagestan, Russia as the youngest child of the three. Located in Cascais, Dagestan stands for a place with a violent history and a humble lifestyle. Growing up in such a place means you will adopt that warrior mindset and iron will from a young age.
Like most kids in Dagestan, Khabib grew up preparing for a battle and was very much led by the father figure. At the time, his father Abdulmanap was already a master in freestyle wrestling and a coach who brought up a large number of great wrestlers. So as it goes, he influenced Khabib to start training wrestling at the age of eight.
Khabib spent his childhood living a very religious life, wrestling on the mats, and competing across the country. At first, you may think he missed a lot. But this spartan approach allowed him to develop that Dagestani warrior mindset through wrestling and competition.
As a very religious person, Khabib always has to live according to his beliefs and upbringings. Believe it or not, he still lives and forever will in his father’s house. But Khabib sees it just as his obligation as the youngest son in the family.
He is not living a wealthy life either. The only thing he cares about is God, family pride, and winning fights. All of this may sound weird to me and you. But it actually speaks a lot about his dedication to the MMA game and the iron will he carries into his fights.
It’s very hard for any fighter to compete against a guy who was born and raised with a mission to smash people like you. I mean, he wrestled bears as a kid for God’s sake.
Culture and Genetics
What most people don’t realize is that athletes from Dagestan have amazing genetics and culture. They are without a doubt one of the strongest people on the planet and very successful in sports like weightlifting and wrestling.
In fact, a huge number of Olympic wrestlers come from Dagestan. You see, wrestling is the most popular sport out there, and the dream of every young kid is to win the Olympic gold. It is by far the most popular activity and even a part of their education program.
So it’s not a surprise that, at the Rio Olympics in 2016, Dagestani wrestlers won five out of eighteen medals. Khabib spends a lot of time training with these wrestlers in the fight camp on a daily basis. They all know each other and are close friends.
When it comes to genetics, there is a reason why fighters like Khabib have such a big gas tank. You see, Dagestani (Avar) people live at the high altitudes (over 2000m). Over the years, their DNA has changed and these people have the ability to somehow produce red cells superior to other races. Similar adaptations have been found in Tibetan population.
Further, Dagestani athletes have perhaps the highest density of power. They usually don’t have athletic bodies or speed in their limbs. But they have an amazing core strength that makes them stable and strong which is perfect for grappling.
Khabib trains like a mad man
If you follow him on Instagram, you can see that Khabib is always in a group of around 10 people. These people are actually his friends and training partners. They are also the best wrestlers and MMA fighters you can find on the east. True fighting brothers, they train 2–3 times a day, eat and sleep together.
Khabib spends half of his fight camp in Dagestan and the other half at AKA in California. While at home, his regime includes a lot of running on harsh terrain in the mountains and training at a high altitude. He does this to raise a level of red blood cells in his body so that he would enjoy an advantage in better cardio when he fights back at sea level.
As you would expect, Khabib also puts a lot of hours into drilling his wrestling skills with the best wrestlers in the world. Just imagine him training 2–3 times a day at high altitude alongside 10 best wrestlers out there. Those are simply brutal workouts. But that’s why he has insane cardio and often looks like he has the energy to keep the same high pace for 10 rounds.
But make no mistakes about it; the other half of his fight camp in the US is equally hard. Since joining the UFC, Khabib spends a lot of time preparing for his fights at AKA under the bat of the famous coach, Xavier Mendez. Over the seas, he trains with much bigger partners like UFC heavyweights Daniel Cormier and Cain Valasquez. I mean, that is as exhausting as training in the mountains.
Preparing both in Dagestan and the US has many benfitted Khabib a lot. He knows that to stay on top of his wrestling game, he needs to live and train with his own people. Training in AKA, however, allows him to improve the areas he’s missing and develop a perfect strategy with the masterminds of the game.
His wrestling is out of this world
We all know Khabib is perhaps the best wrestler in the history of MMA. We also know he gets most of his takedowns against the cage and that his fights look the same most of the time. But what is the secret behind this “simple” grappling style?
First, Khabib is always 100% committed to a takedown and he doesn’t stop chain wrestling until he gets what he wants. He likes to throw various faints and strikes to force the rival on the outside. Once the rival is on the outside and behind the famous “black line”, Khabib would dive for their legs just as a real eagle does.
Further, he is a master of chain wrestling and putting sequences together. We saw many of his rivals defending his single-leg attacks. But Khabib would just grab on the other leg they are not defending and score a takedown. He is that good.
In the clinch, Khabib feels like a fish in the water. What always allows him to score a takedown is the amazing understanding of positioning and balance. Almost every time he would grab a body lock and drag the rival to the mat.
Once on the mats, Khabib begins the mauling by establishing an amazing top control. He is so good at it that it is impossible for his opponents to escape. Once on top and in control, he likes to posture up and unload with brutal ground and pound. He will beat the soul out of his rivals. The beating he gave Edson Barboza is perhaps the biggest mauling in the history of the sport.
He is ruthless inside the cage
Inside the cage, Khabib often looks like a man possessed. I mean, the amount of aggression and intensity he carries inside the cage is amazing. You can always feel in the air that something special was about to take place every time he fights.
His entire style is so intimidating that his rivals often look lost in a fight and here is why. Khabib’s rivals actually spend more time being worried about the takedown instead of following their own game plan.
But this is the same as coming into a battle without a weapon. And we saw this happening in almost all Khabib’s fights. The one against Edson Barboza is a perfect example.
Unlike most of the wrestlers, Khabib is very active on the ground too. He is always looking to improve the position and his ground and pound skills are the best in the game. I mean, he is willing to risk losing a dominant position just to posture up and beat the hell out of his rivals. The power he is able to generate in these shots is huge.
Further, Khabib is literally doing his trash talk inside the cage. Not only that he smashes people, he is also talking to them all the time. If he doesn’t have anything to say to his rival, he will then talk to their coaches or UFC President Dana White sitting beside the cage.
Unpredictable and underrated striking
In spite of not being technical or pretty, Khabib has solid striking skills. What he does best is mixing his unorthodox boxing with pinch point perfect wrestling. We believe people don’t give him enough credit for always being active on the feet and trading punches in the pocket. You see, fighters are often too afraid of his takedowns that they forget he can strike pretty hard.
Khabib knows this and he actually likes to play some mind games on the feet. He tends to explode with wild hooks and step in uppercuts to close the distance or push the rival on the outside.
At times, he would fake or at least move his head like he is ducking under for a takedown and then come over the top with a strike. He’s had so much success with this simple trick over the past and they are all buying it. Look no further from his fight against Conor McGregor if you want to see an example.
Although his striking is getting better, he mostly uses it to set up the takedowns against the cage.
What you see is what you get
In the world of fake trash talkers and alter egos, Khabib is a rare example of a fighter who’s not pretending to be anything else. Alongside Diaz and Masvidal, he is one of the last true fighters out there who always speaks his mind. When he says he would rather die than lose a fight, he actually means that.
Love him or hate him, all people respect his way of life and warrior mentality that he carries inside the cage. That’s why he is one of the most popular fighters on the planet.
So, how this makes him great you may ask? Well, there is a huge advantage of being famous while maintaining your real persona. You don’t have to waste your energy on selling and causing some fake incidents that will only add more pressure on your shoulders and distract from fighting itself.
Khabib is a fighter to the bone and recognizes only one way of fighting: SMASH!
