This coming Saturday at UFC 311, Khabib Nurmagomedov will experience the biggest night of his coaching career thus far.
After shockingly retiring from MMA whilst at the peak of his powers in 2020, Khabib Nurmagomedov turned his attention to coaching, where just like with his fight career, he has become one of the best in the world.
Khabib submitted Justin Gaethje in the second round of their title unification bout at UFC 254, and following the fight, Nurmagomedov announced that he would not be continuing his career without his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.
Khabib Nurmagomedov admits coaching is a ‘headache’ as he prepares for UFC 311
Instead of continuing his fight career, the 36-year-old decided to carry on the legacy of his fathers gym, Eagles MMA, where he has become a top coach alongside Javier Mendez of American Kickboxing Academy.
‘The Eagle’ has already coached both Usman Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev to championship gold during his short tenure as a head coach.
In the UFC 311 co-main event this coming Saturday, he will look to add another fighter to his list of title winners as Umar Nurmagomedov looks to dethrone bantamweight champion, Merab Dvalishvili, in what has turned into a huge grudge match.
And then in the main event, lightweight champion, Makhachev will defend his title in a rematch against Arman Tsarukyan, six years in the making.
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It is set to be an extremely busy night for Khabib who will be in the corner for both fights as well as a fight on the early prelims including his fighter, Tagir Ulanbekov. The former UFC lightweight champion has admitted that he finds life as a coach harder than life as a fighter.
“I didn’t know (coaching) was gonna be so hard like this because when I was fighting, it was easier for me,” Khabib admitted in an interview with ESPN MMA.
“Because I was prepared myself, when I go to the cage, I was fighting and I was controlling everything that was happening but this, this coaching life, it’s completely different than fighting life because I can only talk, I cannot do anything, I can just give my brothers advice and stay outside the cage… That’s why it’s a little bit of a headache for me,” he continued.
Khabib Nurmagomedov explains his coaching style
Ahead of the big night on January 18, Khabib received a little bit of criticism from his coaching partner, Javier Mendez, who admitted their roles together are a ‘work in progress’.
Mendez recalled an instance during Makhachev’s title defense against Dustin Poirier when Khabib wouldn’t let him talk in between rounds, which he nipped in the bud with the dominant former champion.
As a coach, Khabib has been seen to get quite animated which is only natural considering the fact that he is cornering family members and people he has known all his life.
With that, ‘The Eagle’ has explained his coaching style and why he likes to stay in shape himself despite only being in the corner.
“I’m gonna be ready, you know, you have to be in good shape too to give confidence to your fighters too because a lot of people don’t understand about energy. Everybody gives energy, some people give good energy or bad energy, it’s like for giving my fighters good energy, I have to be in good shape too,” he explained.