Javier Mendez had no idea how his life would change when a 24-year-old Dagestani fighter walked into his gym back in 2012. The Russian had signed a UFC contract in 2011 and was looking for a place to train in the States.
Luckily for Mendez, Khabib Nurmagomedov picked the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), where he was head coach. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Through Khabib, a host of Dagestani fighters came over to AKA to train, including Islam Makhachev, Umar, and Usman Nurmagomedov. During an interview with Tim Welch, Sean O’Malley’s coach, Mendez was asked what those initial days were like.
‘The Eagle’ didn’t speak much English back then, so Welch was wondering whether it was hard to train him. Mendez’s answer provided insight into how well-set and disciplined the Dagestani fighters were, despite being relative newbies to MMA and the UFC. And their martial work ethic broke all language barriers.
“I mean, speaking to them was definitely a chore, right? But as far as the techniques, the technique, they’ll look at you and they’ll go, okay, we get it. I mean, these guys were savages right from the beginning. They’re already well-trained by their father and everything,” said Mendez.
Although Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, trained them well in grappling and wrestling, there was a crucial MMA element that was missing. “They didn’t have the concept of the stand-up, you know, and that’s what I gave them, and a game plan and the whole bit,” said Mendez.
Javier Mendez says we never even got to see how good Khabib became in pure striking. That’s a scary thought. pic.twitter.com/Boo6nnNrTi
— OverDogs Podcast (@OverDogsPodcast) May 2, 2025
Mendez knew that he had some exceptionally well-trained and disciplined fighters to work with. All they needed was a little polishing. And that’s exactly what he provided, very successfully as the record shows.
But according to the AKA head coach, there was one character trait in Khabib that stood out from any other fighter he has ever coached.
Mendez reveals what set Khabib apart
Khabib Nurmagomedov had an iron will and a work ethic like nothing Mendez has ever seen before. And that was all thanks to his late father, Abdulmanap, who instilled these values in him.
In the same interview with Welch, Mendez spoke about what set Khabib apart from other fighters: “He never got heated up, really hardly ever.”
And it’s a trait he sees in Makhachev and Umar as well. But Khabib was on a different level than even those two.
“Khabib out of all of those guys was mentally the strongest out of all those guys. No matter what happened, or you know, what outcome happened, that was good or bad, he stayed pretty level-headed,” elaborated Mendez.
In over a decade of coaching Khabib, Mendez has only seen him lose his cool once.
It happened during training when a kickboxer kicked ‘The Eagle’ square in the face while showing him some technique, with no prior warning. The incident got Khabib angry and he was chasing him around the gym until Mendez stepped in.
