Khabib Nurmagomedov finished his career at 29-0 as the undefeated lightweight champion of the world. Needless to say, his work ethic and standards are considered a benchmark at AKA where young Dagestani fighters train to be world champions. Among them is Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov.
Although he has fought inside the octagon just once, back in 2023, he is an unbeaten middleweight fighter looking to emulate the former UFC lightweight champion and win a title for himself.
Khabib Nurmagomedov opened the door for Russian MMA fighters to become global successes. Inspired by his success story, countless Dagestani youngsters have found their way into the sport to become world champions and change the trajectory of their lives.
In a recent interview with Red Corner MMA on YouTube, Shara Magomedov spoke about how he takes inspiration from ‘The Eagle’,
“Khabib Nurmagomedov is like an encyclopedia for me…If you don’t know what to do in any particular situation, just take a look at what Khabib has done.”
Magomedov isn’t wrong. During Islam Makhachev’s Dustin Poirier fight camp, Khabib showed up in the champ’s corner just days before the fight. But even years after his retirement, his training routine left the entire camp throwing up their lungs because they couldn’t simply keep up with ‘The Eagle’.
Khabib comes with a particular kind of reputation. Throughout his career, he steamrolled every opponent he came across. And he made it look really easy.
The Eagle took on the likes of Dustin Poirier, Conor McGregor, and Justin Gaethje, and found himself going up against strikers who would put him into angles he wasn’t used to. Except, none of it mattered because Khabib had a solution for everything.
It wasn’t anything shiny, just basic regular drills done hundreds of times a day for years, making it all look super easy. ‘
So it is no wonder that Shara ‘Bullet’ Magomedov considers the former world champion an encyclopedia. So ‘Bullet’ also believes that history repeats itself and the same processes that brought Khabib Nurmagomedov success would do him the same courtesy.
Meanwhile, amidst the fanfare, Khabib has found himself an unlikely fan. Former POTUS Donald Trump recently praised the Dagestani fighter as he revealed what it was like to meet him at UFC 302.
Donald Trump praises Khabib Nurmagomedov after UFC 302 meetup
A Trump x Nurmagomedov link-up, who would have ever thought? But it happened and it seems ‘The Donald’ really loved it. Appearing on a podcast with Logan Paul, Trump gave Khabib his flowers. Hailing his unbeaten record, Trump called him his favorite guy and someone who knew things.
“I met Khabib who’s 29-0 and his father died and he just said that’s it for me…..They say he never lost a round and we got to speak he was just about my favorite guy.”
Donald Trump on meeting Khabib Nurmagomedov at UFC 302:
“He was just about my favorite guy” pic.twitter.com/pDjX2A8PSF
— ❂ (@Sa_Gwang) June 14, 2024
While Colby Covington and Sean Strickland are probably wishing it was them who got to meet the former President, Trump simply couldn’t stop singing Khabib’s praises.