Despite hanging up his gloves for good after UFC 254, it looks like Khabib Nurmagomedov has not slowed down, not even a bit. He might not be a lightweight anymore but the gain in weight seems to have granted him superpowers. As a matter of fact, ‘The Eagle’ recently outwrestled the Bellator Light Heavyweight champion, Corey Anderson.
While fight fans are used to seeing Nurmagomedov dispatching lightweights with his elite Dagestani wrestling, seeing the 35-year-old out grappling LHWs wasn’t on their cards.
Yes, he is out there dominating 205-pounders – three weight classes above him! A popular shared the stunning video where Nurmagomedov puts Anderson under him, dominating him on the mat.
This has got the fandom in a frenzy. Seeing a LHW champ being outwrestled and dominated by the former champion may have given fans the idea of a super fight.
Besides, since Khabib’s issues with the Russian government, people have been wanting him to return to the octagon. And now, they want him to move up 3 divisions to fight against Alex ‘Poatan’ Pereira.
People have exactly one sentiment about the match up too-
“Poatan is foooked.”
Poatan is foooked
— Knockout of the day (@KOofTheDAY) May 26, 2024
Others were fascinated to see a heavyweight Khabib Nurmagomedov being absolutely a unit.
“Look at the size of Khabibs legs! Holy shit! Grappling and knock out power there.”
https://twitter.com/GitterMma/status/1794529653329424894
Another fan shared his genuine thought, asking if the former champion was returning to the UFC after seeing him outwrestling an LHW champ,
“he’s coming back isn’t he?”
he's coming back isn't he
— w*h (@watch_hoop) May 26, 2024
Another fan stated the obvious, noting that a bigger Khabib was insanely more dangerous and his power made sense given those Dagestani carbs he’s been eating.
“Obviously, cause now he’s a heavyweight.”
Obviously, cause now he’s a heavyweight
— RANDYLL RUGALL (@outnowere) May 26, 2024
Anderson had joined the Dagestani crew for a training session in New Jersey and even posted a few snaps on his IG for the fans. While he is under the scanner for PED use, it looks like he is putting that in the past and is on the grind despite the embarrassing fallout.
Amidst all this, Nurmagomedov who is in town to support his friend, Makhachev, has a bold prediction to make.
Khabib Nurmagomedov sees Makhachev repeating history against Poirier
This is not the first time Dustin Poirier takes on a Dagestani. But it wasn’t a fair sight for Poirier fans as ‘The Eagle’ submitted him under 10 minutes in R3 back in 2019. Now, with his protege taking on the veteran, Nurmagomedov is back in the camp, training Makhachev.
In his recent video, the former UFC champ is confident in his mentee’s ability and revealed that they have a plan set for Poirier on June 1. He also believes that Makhachev will not stray away from the game plan. And even though he didn’t specify the plans, one can be fairly certain that ‘ground and pound’ is the name of the game.
