Islam Makhachev is just a few weeks away from making the fourth defense of his lightweight title, and he is on the verge of breaking the 155lb record for title defenses.
Kicking off the UFC’s portion of PPVs in 2025 is UFC 311 on January 18 with a huge lightweight main event between Islam Makhachev and Arman Tsarukyan.
The two first met back in 2019 on Tsarukyan’s UFC debut and after suffering a loss, ‘Ahalkalakets’ climbed his way up the lightweight rankings, earning himself a title shot.
Javier Mendez claims working with Khabib Nurmagomedov is ‘a work in progress’
The Russian champion has built an extremely solid corner team including Javier Mendez and former lightweight king, Khabib Nurmagomedov.
‘The Eagle’ has cornered the 33-year-old on several occasions but Mendez has claimed that their relationship as coaches is still a ‘work in progress’ and will continue to be ironed out.
The legendary MMA coach has confirmed that Nurmagomedov will be a part of Makhachev’s corner for UFC 311 and has explained his role.
“It’ll be a combination of me and Khabib (giving Islam advice in the corner). It cannot be just (Khabib). It has to be both of us because we have different things that we see, and we both need to give our opinions,” Mendez explained to Action Network.
On the few occasions that Mendez and Khabib have shared the responsibility of cornering the lightweight champion, Mendez has admitted that the former UFC champion has got a ‘little crazy’, making it difficult for Mendez to pitch in with his ideas.
- FIGHT SHAPE: ‘Bro looks insane’… Arman Tsarukyan stuns fans with hulking physique ahead of UFC 311 title fight
“But the most important thing is we have to let Khabib and I do our talking. At the very beginning, Khabib would get a little crazy, and he wouldn’t let me talk and he’d say, ‘Coach how was it?’ I’d go, ‘It was great but you just didn’t let me talk’,” Mendez continued.
“It’s just a work in progress. I mean, he’s such a great coach that for me, it’s just fun to watch him turn into just one of the greatest coaches ever, I think it’s unbelievable for me to see that with my own eyes,” he said.
Mendez explains what Khabib Nurmagomedov’s role will be at UFC 311
The team is scheduled for an extremely busy night on January 18 as the co-main event is a bantamweight title fight between Merab Dvalishvili and Umar Nurmagomedov.
Umar has always been one of Mendez’s main students, however, he is now passing the majority of the responsibility to Khabib and has explained what role ‘The Eagle’ will play at UFC 311.
“As far as having a semi-main and the main on top of that, I’m used to that. And on top of that, Khabib is a really good coach now and has taken over the reins, so I’m coming in as the overseer, more or less.
“I’m his mentor. I’m the coach, but he controls everything… You can’t take the lead role all the time, because they need to show their experience. I’m on the sidelines… I give Khabib advice all the time but the control is more on him now than it is me with these guys,” Mendez finished.