Demetrious Johnson Shares Team Khabib Stands Out as Everyone Follows His Orders Without Question

How does Team Khabib Nurmagomedov keep producing champion fighters who dominate their division for years on an end? Have the Dagestanis figured out the Captain America serum or do they have really specific cheat codes? According to UFC veteran Demetrious Johnson, who has trained with Khabib’s camp, it all comes down to discipline and structure.

Johnson pointed out that in many gyms, the fighters themselves often dictate their own training, which he believes is a flawed approach. Johnson credits his own success to having coaches who guided and molded him, rather than letting him call the shots. Khabib’s team does exactly this as well. Earlier it was Khabib’s father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov dictating terms, now it is Javier Mendez and Khabib who set the rules everyone else plays by.

Johnson, who saw how particular the Dagestanis were in following Khabib’s plans,  said,

“That was one thing I was pretty impressed by, they listen to what Khabib said, and nobody said no. Everybody was like yup, let’s do it, come on, let’s go, let’s go. Where you see a lot of guys, they get to that level and they’re like nah, this is what I’m going to do.”

Johnson emphasized how important it is for fighters to have someone holding them accountable, someone who ensures they’re putting in the work, even when they don’t want to. In the Dagestani camp, even the champions are held accountable by the coaches. Everyone is treated equally, whether you are the new kid on the block or Islam Makhachev himself.

The result of such strict rules is an assembly line of dominant, well-conditioned fighters, who have been in every conceivable circumstance even before they step inside the octagon. Johnson believes this is what separates good fighters from great fighters.

It’s a hive mentality of sorts, which also helps them develop bonds with each other and be brothers for lives. And brothers cannot go a day without trolling each other, which Johnson also found out about during his training sessions with them.

Khabib and Islam conduct belt check on Mighty Mouse

Despite their intense discipline and no-nonsense approach to training, Team Khabib knows how to have fun. At first, Johson got grilled about playing too many video games with Abubakar Nurmagomedov. Khabib claimed that they had broken his gaming system since it was allegedly responsible for him losing a fight.

This visibly broker’s Johnson’s heart!

Then, after a grueling session, Johnson sat down with Khabib and Islam Makhachev, where the Dagestanis started asking what color his belt was. Khabib jokingly questioned Johnson’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu credentials, saying:

“Brother, you have Gucci belt or Jiu-Jitsu belt?”

Islam of course, has had a documented issue with everybody in the UFC  having a black belt in Jiu Jitsu and so flexed his own belt.

“I don’t have black belt, but I have gold belt.”

But Johnson had the perfect comeback. With a smile, he reminded them that he, too, has gold belts, 15 of them, to be exact. With 12 UFC titles and three from ONE Championship, ‘Mighty Mouse’ had the last laugh in the exchange.