Media Khabib Nurmagomedov on Irish MMA: "Not even half" of Dagestan's level

Sean Chowdhury said:
shamil musaev is a beast, I forgot about him, I struggle to see shavkat or any WW in the ufc beating him, maybe belal can win a decision
Click to expand...

He used to be a LW, was supposed to fight Gamrot. Shamil is great but I don't think he's untouchable. Jack Della could do well vs him for sure, Shamils takedown defense and counter wrestling is so far insane level good but standing he's pretty lead hook dominant and predictable. If Sadibou Sy stayed at 170 in PFL I was curious how that matchup would go. Shamils a contender for sure though in the UFC if he came over. Guys like Belal and Brady probably get toasted bad by him, I think he's got that style and build down to a science.
 
svmr_db said:
Click to expand...

He not wrong, its not like any other country is comparable to Dagestan either. Dagestan are on a different level to everyone, atleast Ireland has the excuse of only having a population of 5 million, theres countries out there with a population 300 million that aren’t even anywhere on that same level as Dagestan.
 
Last edited:
Tatra said:
He's a product of RUSSIA (and Canada). Not Chechnya/Dagestan. Don't move the goalposts. He then fled to Canada after turning professional and has a Canadian trainer. He also doesn't seem to be in the slightest bit interested in returning. What about him is actually Chechen/Dagi? How can you attribute his success to his native Chechnya/Dagestan?
Click to expand...

You're the one that brought his Dagestani/Chechen roots. Being Russian has it's advantages as does being from autonomous regions of the caucuses.You're just playing semantics at this point. How can I attribute his success to his native land? He as a recorded 102-13(some estimates are much higher close to 300 wins) as an amateur as part of the Russian nation team before moving to Canada prior to his pro debut. Combat sports are the sports that kids get into where he's from. Long traditions of Soviet/state sponsored programs involving Judo, Tae kwon do/kickboxing , Boxing, and compulsory military service that require exposure to Sambo produce some pretty stout fighters. It also doesn't hurt to have a bunch of rich oligarchs/organized crime as boosters helping along the way. Isn't it weird that the majority of those fighters are from a small region with a total pop. of 5 million people? How is it possible that so many, are so good? Imagine all of the best fighters in the US were born in South Carolina. You'd have to examine the culture, popularity of combat sports, and attitude towards violence to see why something like that is so damn common. Genetics may play a part as well, but I'm not trying to summon The War Room.

Here's the better question. Would he be the fighter he is today if he were born in Ireland or Canada? Or did growing up where he did provide the correct environment for his skills and mindset to develop? I'm more inclined to go with the latter. I will absolutely attribute the environment that man spent 75% of his life in to his success. The hard work was already done before he moved to Canada. Didn't you see all of the Dagestani and Chechen wrestlers at the last Olympics winning medal after medal flying the flag of countries that have terrible wrestling programs? Those guys got good in their own country and then expanded to kick the shit out of everyone else. With the Russian Olympic ban they had to branch out. And I certainly don't believe that Greece or Bahrain were unique in offering any sort of improvements to their skill. With the training and skills they built in their homeland, they would have medaled no matter what country gave them an opportunity to participate.

Nature vs. Nurture. Both are important when producing athletes. We're still figuring out where they converge.
 
Last edited:
HuskySamoan said:
He used to be a LW, was supposed to fight Gamrot. Shamil is great but I don't think he's untouchable. Jack Della could do well vs him for sure, Shamils takedown defense and counter wrestling is so far insane level good but standing he's pretty lead hook dominant and predictable. If Sadibou Sy stayed at 170 in PFL I was curious how that matchup would go. Shamils a contender for sure though in the UFC if he came over. Guys like Belal and Brady probably get toasted bad by him, I think he's got that style and build down to a science.
Click to expand...
Shavkat could possibly beat Shamil, everyone else except maybe JDM (like you said) gets bulldozed.
 
@wufabufa, I forgot to say why he wouldn't be the same fighter imo. It's a huge advantage to start at a young age. For example, I have first hand experience starting wrestling extremely young, it was a big advantage when I'd face guys that started later imo. Happy new year btw.
 
I'm not sure if it is all of Dagestan but they are truly what we can call a center of excellence for MMA and many other martial arts. It is not only the chain-wrestling freaks but they have showy Sanda strikers like Zabit, Bullet, Salikhov.

I can only see them as a rising tide that will evolve the entire MMA scape like the Brazilians did with BJJ and MMA Muay Thai. They will likely be a dominant player for the long-term although I do see other countries like Japan, Brazil and the US closing the gap as they learn and adapt.
 
KhabibPink said:
It doesn’t look as bad to Ireland when its 3 million dags compared to 5 million irish as opposed to 3 million dags having more dominance compared to 300 million Americans
Click to expand...

It would actually be fairer (but more difficult) to compare the population of Dagestanis who compete in MMA with Americans. I suspect the Dagestani's still come out way ahead in terms of 2024 world rankings and championships but the ratios will look much better than 100:1
 
that Indian said:
I'm not sure if it is all of Dagestan but they are truly what we can call a center of excellence for MMA and many other martial arts. It is not only the chain-wrestling freaks but they have showy Sanda strikers like Zabit, Bullet, Salikhov.

I can only see them as a rising tide that will evolve the entire MMA scape like the Brazilians did with BJJ and MMA Muay Thai. They will likely be a dominant player for the long-term although I do see other countries like Japan, Brazil and the US closing the gap as they learn and adapt.
Click to expand...
Georgia is up there as well in pound for pound dominance. Also only about 3 million people but with two current UFC champs.
 
Poirierfan said:
@wufabufa, I forgot to say why he wouldn't be the same fighter imo. It's a huge advantage to start at a young age. For example, I have first hand experience starting wrestling extremely young, it was a big advantage when I'd face guys that started later imo. Happy new year btw.
Click to expand...

100% agreed.

Thanks bro. Hope you're doing better these days.
 
KhabibPink said:
It doesn’t look as bad for Ireland when its 3 million dags compared to 5 million irish as opposed to 3 million dags having more dominance vs America with its population of 300 million.
Click to expand...

No argument there.

We're burdened by football, basketball, baseball, and to a lesser degree hockey which chew up and spit out our best athletes by the time they're through at the highschool level here in the US. If MMA becomes a real cash cow for the participants like those sports then I think we'll see things change. Especially for poor kids trying to dig themselves out of the hood/trailer park. But until then....team sports it is.
 
Tatra said:
Rugby requires great physical toughness and Ireland is currently ranked the 2nd best team in the world. If Dagis are so tough, why are they non-existent in boxing with the exception of Beterbiev?
Click to expand...
Don't forget hurling.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,255,759
Messages
56,736,297
Members
175,383
Latest member
LaPalmaJoa

Share this page

Back
Top