Khabib Nurmagomedov shared a humorous moment with his longtime coach ahead of one of the busiest nights of his life.
UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov has had a wild UFC 311 fight week as he prepares Islam Makhachev and his bantamweight contending cousin, Umar, for their title bouts this weekend. Nurmagomedov was at the center of controversy over the weekend after viral footage showed him being removed from a Frontier Airlines flight over sitting in an emergency exit row.
After Nurmagomedov shared his side of the incident, and Frontier Airlines issued a recent statement, the former UFC lightweight champion is returning his full, undivided attention to UFC 311. He’ll corner Makhachev and Umar for their fights at UFC 311 at the promotion’s first pay-per-view event of the year.
In the final days of Umar and Makhachev’s UFC 311 fight camp, Nurmagomedov leaned on the coach who helped lead him to greatness inside the Octagon. But unfortunately for Nurmagomedov, his coach didn’t come to his aid this time around.
Khabib Nurmagomedov shares a funny moment with longtime coach
During Episode 1 of the UFC 311: Embedded series, Nurmagomedov called out his American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez for recently forgetting about him.
“My shoulder was [hurt] for one week. The whole week I asked him to bring something [for my shoulder], and he says ‘I have it’,” Nurmagomedov said. “Now my shoulder is good, but my heart is broken.
“Because this guy forgot about me every single day!”
Despite the miscommunication between Nurmagomedov and Mendez, they’re both locked in ahead of UFC 311. Umar will challenge Merab Dvalishvili for the bantamweight belt in the co-main event, while Makhachev defends the lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan.
UFC 311 will be one of Khabib Nurmagomedov’s last coaching gigs
Nurmagomedov recently hinted that UFC 311 will be one of the final high-profile coaching gigs of his young post-fighting career. After retiring from fighting in 2020, he’s become one of the top coaches in MMA, training multiple fighters to world championship reigns.
Nurmagomedov abruptly ended his fighting career following a win over Justin Gaethje at UFC 254, fulfilling a pre-fight promise to his mother. His father, Abdulmanap, passed away just months before UFC 254.
Ahead of UFC 311, Nurmagomedov isn’t slowing down in preparing two of his star pupils for the massive spotlight. In the meantime, he isn’t afraid to let his guard down temporarily and enjoy some lighthearted moments with his team.