Despite being in a sport of blood and injuries, fighters often share a strong bond of friendship. The noted UFC stars, Khabib Nurmagomedov and Henry Cejudo were both managed by Ali Abdelaziz. As a result of their connection with Abdelaziz they develop a friendly relationship. This also had Cejudo gifting Nurmagomedov with a special Christmas present a few years back.
Most fans may have witnessed Cejudo’s pillow-kicking ceremonial weigh-in sessions before his fights. ‘Triple C’ often carries several pillows with the faces of his rivals to his ceremonial weigh-in sessions. He takes them out of a bag and kicks them into the audience as a taunt for his rival. Cejudo had a similar gift for Nurmagomedov as well, i.e. a pillow. But the graphic on the cover showcased that it was a gift that came out of Cejudo’s respect for Khabib.
An Instagram account named ‘The Fight Bubble’ highlighted the entire meetup between ‘The Eagle’ and ‘Triple C’. Their caption read:
“Throwback to when Henry Cejudo had a very special gift for Khabib on Christmas!”
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The print on Cejudo’s gift revealed that he knew about Nurmagomedov’s deep relationship with his father. A large chunk of the UFC community also knows about Khabib’s father. But there may be others who are unaware of the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s contribution to Khabib’s UFC career.
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov trained Khabib Nurmagomedov and played a significant role
Khabib’s father, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, began training him at a pretty early age. Being a combat sambo coach himself, Abdulmanap created a grappling prodigy out of Khabib by making him go through intense training. Most UFC fans may have witnessed the video of Khabib wrestling a bear while he was just 9 years old.
The combined dedication of Khabib and his father towards the same goal is what made him one of the most dominant UFC fighters to date. Most fans may know that ‘The Eagle’ quit fighting after the unfortunate death of his father in the year 2020. This is why the Dagestani looked pretty happy in the video when Cejudo presented him with the pillow with the print of a combination of Khabib and his father’s faces.
