Never before has any team come in and dominated the sport like Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team has done across organizations. After Islam Makhachev in the UFC and Usman Nurmagomedov in Bellator, Gadzhi Rabadanov has secured the PFL lightweight title with a KO victory over Brent Primus in the third round of the fight.
With this victory, the lightweight champions across the top 3 MMA organizations are all from Khabib’s team. For one gym to achieve such success is unprecedented in MMA history.
Nurmagomedov himself could not fathom what his team has achieved and shared the photo via his Instagram story and had this to say,
“top three organization in the world Three reigning light weight champs. this is something unreal in my opinion.”
“top three organization in the world Three reigning light weight champs. this is something unreal in my opinion.” – Khabib Nurmagomedov reacts to Gadzhi Rabadanov winning PFL title pic.twitter.com/o1ga4UO09G
— THE UFCGUY (@the_ufcguy) November 30, 2024
Their reign doesn’t even end here. There’s another name on the rise in the UFC bantamweight division. Umar Nurmagomedov may be one fight away from securing a title fight for himself. This is an amazing streak that the team has achieved and Khabib wants it to continue climbing new heights.
In that spirit, as Makhachev begins training for his next title defense, not only will ‘The Eagle‘ be there in his corner, but he is also helping him prepare by watching tapes of the lightweight champion.
‘Khabib one of the best corner coaches’- Makhachev
Makhachev will return to the octagon on January 18 next year against Arman Tsarukyan, according to his manager. Having been away from the sport for a few months due to an injury, there’s a good chance Makhachev has some rust.
As he returns at UFC 311, the champ will also be faced with the toughest challenge of his career yet. Tsarukyan had fought him pre-lockdown in 2019 and even though Makhachev had managed to win by U-decision, it had been a grappling battle to remember.
This is why, it’s important that Khabib remains in his corner for the comeback fight.
Islam had earlier spoken about how Khabib was one of the best corner coaches and it was easier to fight with him around because he simplified the fights for him, telling him exactly what to do. It’s the little things, small movements that Khabib tends to point out, like when to go for full mount, and when to save his breath, that end up making a difference.
Khabib was present when he took on Charles Oliveira at UFC 294 to win his first UFC title.
After this, Khabib distanced himself from MMA for a bit to spend more time with his family. But he returned as Islam prepared for the toughest battle of his career. Now it seems, he has to do it again.
