Whether or not Khabib Nurmagomedov considers himself a coach or not, he seems to have the same talent for it that his father did. Islam Makhachev, Khabib’s training partner and childhood friend, won his UFC 259 fight in commanding fashion over Drew Dober, suffocating him for two rounds before submitting him in the third.
“Life is good,” Khabib posted on Instagram afterwards, along with a photo of two UFC gloves.
Makhachev may be the heir apparent to Khabib’s throne as the best fighter in the game, picking up his seventh straight win with continuous takedowns and near total control, appearing completely unstoppable throughout the fight.
Dober had won three fights in a row until Makhachev handed him a resounding defeat via a devastating arm-triangle choke, causing a tap out.
Ahead of the fight, Khabib posted a photo of the two of them together along with a message of good luck.
“You have the potential, discipline and mentality of a champion. I really believe you will be the best in the world,” Khabib said on Instagram.
Khabib doesn’t lie
— Belal Muhammad (@bullyb170) March 7, 2021
Khabib has acted, for all intents and purposes, as the coach of the 29-year-old Makhachev, with whom he grew up in the Republic of Dagestan in Russia. The renowned fighter, who retired in sensational fashion only last fall, has yet to fully transition into the next phase in his career, he told Esquire Middle East in an exclusive interview, his first since stepping away from fighting.
“Now that I’m not going to train any more, I have people close to me—brothers and friends—who are now fighting at the highest level,” he says. “There are about five or six people who we are building the path with, and I will help them, train with them, share my experiences,” Khabib told Esquire Middle East.
When asked if he plans on going into coaching the next generation of fighters he stopped short of that accepting the title of coach.
“To some extent, this can be called a coaching life, but I am not going to fully enter into coaching. I will always be there and share my experience.”
Khabib has never been comfortable with the term coach, even for his late father, who passed away from COVID-19 in 2020, and was integral in his success.
“I would not want people to associate him as a coach, as a person who developed wrestling or something else. My father had a lot of projects and the biggest thing he did was he brought up people, brought up a personality and he always told me: “The biggest and best investment is investing in people”,” Khabib said.
“There were a lot of relatives close, whom my father both supported and raised. There were many orphans who he watched over and cared for. So in this direction he left a very large legacy. A lot of people depended on him. Of course, it all depends on the Almighty, but he was the reason for this. So, I thought that he left a huge legacy and over time people will understand it even more.”
Khabib as a fighter felt he had hit his limit, so while he will continue to train with his inner circle, he has ratcheted down his training from what it once was.
“Every day I woke up in the morning and started training, and in the evening my body was exhausted, because I had brought it to the limit. I just want to live a life in which I can get at least a little sleep before lunchtime, to live for myself and not devote myself 100 percent to sports,” said Khabib.
Khabib, however, refused to say whether he would return to fighting.
“I think only time will answer this question. We will see,” he says.
For now, his ‘coaching life’ is proving as fruitful as his fighting life.
.jpg)