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One of the biggest sporting newspapers posted a new big interview with Khabib's father Abdulmanap on their website. It's a very interesting interview about the upcoming fight and a lot more.
https://www.sport-express.ru/martia...tervyu-s-abdulmanapom-nurmagomedovym-1582686/
For those of you who don't like reading, I'll just post the question and the answer from the headline first. For the rest of you the full interview will be down below.
If you compare McGregor's and Poirier's takedown defence, who would you rank higher?
- McGregor showed the correct defence in two attacks. Khabib couldn't take him down on the first try, he defended correctly. I think those freestyle wrestler he took in to his camp taught him that, he had some coaches from Moldavia. But Khabib found another option, we call it "skate walk". He took his opponent from below, spun him around and transitioned to the double leg take down. But Conor is a striker, so it's only natural that he would make mistakes.
I rewatched that sequence today two times and thought about what to do with Poirier. His team know that Khabib likes to go for the single leg, lift it up above the head. What if Poirier grabs the fence like McGregor? Conor broke the rules 9 times and the referee didn't interfere. I don't think there will be refereeing like that in this fight. I'm sure Poirier is working on his takedown defence, but we have a plan B.
If you look at Poirier's fights, he was take down by Alvarez, Pettis... I can't see that Khabib will not be able to take him down in this fight.
- I agree! I also seen in the press that one of Poirier's coaches said that Justin will drop Khabib in the 4th round. But, the question is if he will survive until the 4th round?.
Is that you prediction?
- He isn't suppose to make it to the 4th round. That's first. Second, we have developed a lot when it comes to striking.
Even compared to McGregor fight?
- Yes. A lot! 100 days of training camp, every one of those days hade 5,5 hours of work put in. Now he has two new combinations, you'll see them during the fight. We have to show to the whole world, what GSP has always done, the fight must go accordingly to what's most beneficial for us. I regard GSP as a professor in the octagon when it comes to tactical schemes. He had everything, strength, endurance, take downs, striking and grappling. Now there are very fighters like that in UFC. Only John Jones and Khabib.
Does it mean that Khabib should not be striking in this fight if he can avoid it?
- If we take Poirier down in the 2nd - 3rd minute of the fight, he will not be able to knock anyone out in that round. If Khabib will trade with him at 50-70 cm distance, that can be dangerous. Between Khabib and Conor they had a distance of 70-100 cm, here they will fight at 40-70 cm. Poirier doesn't have long reach like McGregor, he isn't as dangerous striker from a far. But he hits hard and he's got strong shoulders.
How do you share responsibility with Javier Mendez?
- Javier is very experienced. He trained 3 champions if you don't count Khabib. There is no doubt about his level of competence, he is a great trainer. In his camp they have three champions - Velasquez, Rockhold and Cormier. Now Khabib is with them. He thinks that everything that Khabib knows is developed in Dagestan, but Khabib is making progress when it comes to his striking, that's a fact.
What happened to Cormier was unfortunate, I hope they will make a third fight so that they can determine who is the best of them.
In Javier's camp he has a lot of veteran athletes from different disciplines. Pops (Walter F. Carvalho) for instance worked with Khabib on knock out punch with the right hand, footwork, faints and boxing. All that combined with knees and kicks. They did a lot for Khabib. I want Javier to work with our young fighters, I got at least 10 people in mind. I think that he is ideal for us, Mendez understands the professional distance between fighter and coach, he understands what skills a fighter is lacking. I will try to implement AKA methods in Russia. Javier will be coming to us and we'll create all conditions for him in Russia. We are building a huge gym right now in Dagestan that will have all the necessary equipment similar to what they have in AKA.
We will have completely different conditions. Everyone starting with president Putin to head of Dagestan Vassiliev are supporting us and giving us funds to develop MMA in Dagestan. With this kind of support I want to be coaching the best Russian fighters. Our goal right now is to go from #3 to #2 MMA nation. Ahead of us is a very strong nation of Brazil and US is ahead of them as #1. Our task is during the coming 3-5 years to become #2 and thereafter challenge for the #1 spot. The government is creating conditions for US and we must give the results.
Last time we spoke you talked about Russian fighters that are making the biggest progress. You mentioned Volkov and also Kopylov. But they haven't fought for a long time. Who do you think is worth mentioning at the moment?
I also mentioned Petr Yan, also Magomed Ankalaev, Mairbek Taisumov, Islam Makhachev. If Shamil Abdurakhimov, Makhachev and Taisumov win in this upcoming event, they will make a big event for them in Russia. Also there is Sergey Pavlovich, very good HW. HW is a very prestigious weight class, we have to be competitive there. He trained with us at one point in time and even now we have are communicating a lot and I want him to keep working and keep improving. I want him to take over after Volkov as the main HW prospect.
At the moment we are doing well in the lower weight classes. Except for Petr Yan we could also throw in Umar Nurmagomedov in the mix (Khabib's cousin currently in PFL with 11-0 record), also there is Khabilov and I would also like Osman Nurmagomedov to sign a contract with UFC this year (Khabib's other undefeated cousin 6-0, Umar's brother). We'll also see how Abubakar (Nurmagomedov) will do in Moscow in November.
What must happen for Khabib to fight in Russia?
I think that if Khabib is to defend his belt here in Abu Dhabi, why could he not defend it in Moscow? Moscow is an interesting venue. Moscow has everything to host a big events. I would like Khabib to do his last fight in Moscow, his last title defence. I think UFC must give us that fight. Our fans and all Russians deserve it.
The last fight is it the 30th fight? Do you want him to go 30-0?
In my opinion 30-0 is enough for Khabib. We had very good young guys coming up. I think this 1,5 year will be enough for Khabib and for Russia to become nation #2 in MMA. We are paying a lot more attention right now to the infrastructure. Russia has potential to be MMA nation in the nearest future.
Are you as a coach interested in a rematch with McGregor?
After a couple of fights. He hasn't won in three years. As next opponent for Khabib I would like to see Ferguson. And after that... If McGregor get a win over somebody, fights a good fight, then why not?
I would also like to point out Diaz. Besides we have a score to settle with him. It will be an interesting fight for his team and for our team.
Is Ferguson fight possible in December?
We'll see when he will be ready. We are on a roll at the moment. Ideally we want a fight in the end of the year.
Financially will they purse be equal to the purse in McGregor fight?
It will be 3 - 3,5 times higher.
Higher? How is that possible?
We are not fighting for peanuts any more so the money will be better. We know our value.
He got 2 million dollars guaranteed last time not counting the PPV %.
That's too small for us. Because we are best at the moment, we beat the best and we are prepared to fight the best. Also we are popular and we know it. You'll see how the crowd will react when Poirier walks out and when Khabib walks out.
Update, the rest of the interview
There is an opinion that many people in Russia were supporting McGregor and not Khabib
I disagree. That's your assumptions. Most of Russian patriots were supporting Khabib, I can assure you of that. There were people who were supporting McGregor but they were not the majority. This year we have visited 22 cities in Russia. Not in one single city have we met a person who said that they supported McGregor. Khabib is a Russian patriot and Russians are supporting Khabib. United we are a force to be reckoned with.
(In Russia this is a sensitive subject, there is many different ethnicities who don't get along so well and there are plenty of nationalists who don't like people from Caucasus).
In my opinion you handled Taktarov situation pretty well. Don't you think that he is getting out of line with his statements?
(Background: Oleg Taktarov is arguably the first Russian UFC champion. He won one of the early UFC tournaments LINK . After Khabib won the UFC belt, his father made a post on social media saying something along the lines that Russia finally has it's first UFC champion. Taktarov started talking sh!t about Khabib and his father on social media because he felt disrespected and claimed that he is the first Russia UFC champion. You could argue that that tournament wasn't about UFC belt since the organisation was different and there were no weight classes and it was tournament format, but you could also argue that it doesn't matter and he was the first champion. People still argue about this in Russian MMA community.
Anyway, after that trash talk on the social media. Abdulmanap graciously invited Taktarov to Dagestan, to his home to visit and train with them. The images were posted on social media and they seemed to have had a great time.
Now after almost a year, Taktarov has started talking shit again and cursing at Khabib, Abdulmanap and Fedor for some odd reason.
After the insults Abdulmanap made a post on social media encouraging Khabib's fans to leave Taktarov alone and ignore his BS.
More info about their beef in English here:
https://harcord.com/ru/publication/...the-nurmagomedovs-full-course-of-the-conflict)
And I will keep handling it that way with Oleg. What he says and writes that's on his conscience. He is a good guy, he was our guest. We gave him gifts, trained together, gave him an honourable welcome and ready to continue to be friendly with him. Oleg, continue on in the same manner, people see everything.
Is it the first time someone treats you like this?
No, it's 7th or 8th time. But I can't react every time someone talks. I don't have time for that. I have 27 professional fighters to worry about, I have to be productive, not get distracted by stuff like this.
People probably come to you and ask for money. How many times a day. do you get requests like that?
About 10-12 times a day. I don't help anyone personally. I try to help people in general, that's education, orphanages, roads in mountain villages, different social projects. So I donate money on projects that concern many people not some one in particular.
If you would wrestle with Taktarov today, would you beat him?
You can ask Oleg who beat who in out sparring sessions. I am ready to grapple with him at any time. I have a younger brother that is world sport sambo champion, you can ask him about my grappling. Taktarov grappled with me twice, I beat him both times. There are a few people my age who can out grapple me, I am not bragging, it's just that I try to keep myself in shape. Few people my age spend 4-5 hour a day on a wrestling mat.
If you can bring Fedor Emelianenko from the middle of 2000 to our days, would he be able to become a great fighter?
He was in his best shape when he weighed 103-106 kg. I saw him like that on Russian combat sambo championship and in Dagestan open championship. Guys with that weigh can easily drop to 93 kg (205) and fight LHW. In 2005 Fedor beat CroCop who at the time weighed 112-115 kg. He was a lot bigger than Fedor. CroCop at the time was considered the best striker in the world, but Fedor beat him in his own game. Fedor has trained combat sambo, like Khabib. I have always though and still think that combat sambo the best martial art in the world.
That Fedor could be a champion today. Can we say the same about our friend Taktarov? Could he even make top 20? No, real specialist see that Fedor would be great even today. But in what weight class could Oleg (Taktarov) win a belt? Even in MW it would be unreal. Just imagine him against Romero or Whittaker.
Fedor remains a legend for me, a talented fighter. But the years take their toll. I think that he should have retired in time. That's my opinion, but he is of a different opinion. We don't knows what reasons he has to continue to compete.
Do you think that Aleksandr Emelianenko is the most talented Russian HW of all time?
We all know Aleksandr. Here we have to separate his athletic attributes and his qualities as a human being. He can go out any time and give a good fight. Even now. I respect him for his character and his combat qualities. I wish you good luck Sasha (nickname for Aleksandr).
Khabib is expecting another child.
Yes we are waiting for the birth of his 3rd child. It's a great joy. That will be my 10th grandchild.
Will it be a boy or a girl?
A son I think. Khabib already has daughter and a son. My eldest son has 3 daughters. My daughter has 3 sons.
How old are Khabib's kids?
Son i 2 yo. Daughter is 4 yo. Me and my grandson are already working on his wrestling he can already do takedowns. He does push-ups and sit-ups.
Already!?
Yes.
Did Khabib start out in the same age?
To be honest me relationship with Khabib and my grand son is completely different. I am not as hard on my grand kids as I was with my own sons. I think they are already trying to hustle me, but I'm just having fun with it. The age is taking it's toll after all.
What's the name of Khabib's son?
Magomed in honour off Khabib's grandfather.
https://www.sport-express.ru/martia...tervyu-s-abdulmanapom-nurmagomedovym-1582686/
For those of you who don't like reading, I'll just post the question and the answer from the headline first. For the rest of you the full interview will be down below.
If you compare McGregor's and Poirier's takedown defence, who would you rank higher?
- McGregor showed the correct defence in two attacks. Khabib couldn't take him down on the first try, he defended correctly. I think those freestyle wrestler he took in to his camp taught him that, he had some coaches from Moldavia. But Khabib found another option, we call it "skate walk". He took his opponent from below, spun him around and transitioned to the double leg take down. But Conor is a striker, so it's only natural that he would make mistakes.
I rewatched that sequence today two times and thought about what to do with Poirier. His team know that Khabib likes to go for the single leg, lift it up above the head. What if Poirier grabs the fence like McGregor? Conor broke the rules 9 times and the referee didn't interfere. I don't think there will be refereeing like that in this fight. I'm sure Poirier is working on his takedown defence, but we have a plan B.
If you look at Poirier's fights, he was take down by Alvarez, Pettis... I can't see that Khabib will not be able to take him down in this fight.
- I agree! I also seen in the press that one of Poirier's coaches said that Justin will drop Khabib in the 4th round. But, the question is if he will survive until the 4th round?.
Is that you prediction?
- He isn't suppose to make it to the 4th round. That's first. Second, we have developed a lot when it comes to striking.
Even compared to McGregor fight?
- Yes. A lot! 100 days of training camp, every one of those days hade 5,5 hours of work put in. Now he has two new combinations, you'll see them during the fight. We have to show to the whole world, what GSP has always done, the fight must go accordingly to what's most beneficial for us. I regard GSP as a professor in the octagon when it comes to tactical schemes. He had everything, strength, endurance, take downs, striking and grappling. Now there are very fighters like that in UFC. Only John Jones and Khabib.
Does it mean that Khabib should not be striking in this fight if he can avoid it?
- If we take Poirier down in the 2nd - 3rd minute of the fight, he will not be able to knock anyone out in that round. If Khabib will trade with him at 50-70 cm distance, that can be dangerous. Between Khabib and Conor they had a distance of 70-100 cm, here they will fight at 40-70 cm. Poirier doesn't have long reach like McGregor, he isn't as dangerous striker from a far. But he hits hard and he's got strong shoulders.
How do you share responsibility with Javier Mendez?
- Javier is very experienced. He trained 3 champions if you don't count Khabib. There is no doubt about his level of competence, he is a great trainer. In his camp they have three champions - Velasquez, Rockhold and Cormier. Now Khabib is with them. He thinks that everything that Khabib knows is developed in Dagestan, but Khabib is making progress when it comes to his striking, that's a fact.
What happened to Cormier was unfortunate, I hope they will make a third fight so that they can determine who is the best of them.
In Javier's camp he has a lot of veteran athletes from different disciplines. Pops (Walter F. Carvalho) for instance worked with Khabib on knock out punch with the right hand, footwork, faints and boxing. All that combined with knees and kicks. They did a lot for Khabib. I want Javier to work with our young fighters, I got at least 10 people in mind. I think that he is ideal for us, Mendez understands the professional distance between fighter and coach, he understands what skills a fighter is lacking. I will try to implement AKA methods in Russia. Javier will be coming to us and we'll create all conditions for him in Russia. We are building a huge gym right now in Dagestan that will have all the necessary equipment similar to what they have in AKA.
We will have completely different conditions. Everyone starting with president Putin to head of Dagestan Vassiliev are supporting us and giving us funds to develop MMA in Dagestan. With this kind of support I want to be coaching the best Russian fighters. Our goal right now is to go from #3 to #2 MMA nation. Ahead of us is a very strong nation of Brazil and US is ahead of them as #1. Our task is during the coming 3-5 years to become #2 and thereafter challenge for the #1 spot. The government is creating conditions for US and we must give the results.
Last time we spoke you talked about Russian fighters that are making the biggest progress. You mentioned Volkov and also Kopylov. But they haven't fought for a long time. Who do you think is worth mentioning at the moment?
I also mentioned Petr Yan, also Magomed Ankalaev, Mairbek Taisumov, Islam Makhachev. If Shamil Abdurakhimov, Makhachev and Taisumov win in this upcoming event, they will make a big event for them in Russia. Also there is Sergey Pavlovich, very good HW. HW is a very prestigious weight class, we have to be competitive there. He trained with us at one point in time and even now we have are communicating a lot and I want him to keep working and keep improving. I want him to take over after Volkov as the main HW prospect.
At the moment we are doing well in the lower weight classes. Except for Petr Yan we could also throw in Umar Nurmagomedov in the mix (Khabib's cousin currently in PFL with 11-0 record), also there is Khabilov and I would also like Osman Nurmagomedov to sign a contract with UFC this year (Khabib's other undefeated cousin 6-0, Umar's brother). We'll also see how Abubakar (Nurmagomedov) will do in Moscow in November.
What must happen for Khabib to fight in Russia?
I think that if Khabib is to defend his belt here in Abu Dhabi, why could he not defend it in Moscow? Moscow is an interesting venue. Moscow has everything to host a big events. I would like Khabib to do his last fight in Moscow, his last title defence. I think UFC must give us that fight. Our fans and all Russians deserve it.
The last fight is it the 30th fight? Do you want him to go 30-0?
In my opinion 30-0 is enough for Khabib. We had very good young guys coming up. I think this 1,5 year will be enough for Khabib and for Russia to become nation #2 in MMA. We are paying a lot more attention right now to the infrastructure. Russia has potential to be MMA nation in the nearest future.
Are you as a coach interested in a rematch with McGregor?
After a couple of fights. He hasn't won in three years. As next opponent for Khabib I would like to see Ferguson. And after that... If McGregor get a win over somebody, fights a good fight, then why not?
I would also like to point out Diaz. Besides we have a score to settle with him. It will be an interesting fight for his team and for our team.
Is Ferguson fight possible in December?
We'll see when he will be ready. We are on a roll at the moment. Ideally we want a fight in the end of the year.
Financially will they purse be equal to the purse in McGregor fight?
It will be 3 - 3,5 times higher.
Higher? How is that possible?
We are not fighting for peanuts any more so the money will be better. We know our value.
He got 2 million dollars guaranteed last time not counting the PPV %.
That's too small for us. Because we are best at the moment, we beat the best and we are prepared to fight the best. Also we are popular and we know it. You'll see how the crowd will react when Poirier walks out and when Khabib walks out.
Update, the rest of the interview
There is an opinion that many people in Russia were supporting McGregor and not Khabib
I disagree. That's your assumptions. Most of Russian patriots were supporting Khabib, I can assure you of that. There were people who were supporting McGregor but they were not the majority. This year we have visited 22 cities in Russia. Not in one single city have we met a person who said that they supported McGregor. Khabib is a Russian patriot and Russians are supporting Khabib. United we are a force to be reckoned with.
(In Russia this is a sensitive subject, there is many different ethnicities who don't get along so well and there are plenty of nationalists who don't like people from Caucasus).
In my opinion you handled Taktarov situation pretty well. Don't you think that he is getting out of line with his statements?
(Background: Oleg Taktarov is arguably the first Russian UFC champion. He won one of the early UFC tournaments LINK . After Khabib won the UFC belt, his father made a post on social media saying something along the lines that Russia finally has it's first UFC champion. Taktarov started talking sh!t about Khabib and his father on social media because he felt disrespected and claimed that he is the first Russia UFC champion. You could argue that that tournament wasn't about UFC belt since the organisation was different and there were no weight classes and it was tournament format, but you could also argue that it doesn't matter and he was the first champion. People still argue about this in Russian MMA community.
Anyway, after that trash talk on the social media. Abdulmanap graciously invited Taktarov to Dagestan, to his home to visit and train with them. The images were posted on social media and they seemed to have had a great time.
Now after almost a year, Taktarov has started talking shit again and cursing at Khabib, Abdulmanap and Fedor for some odd reason.
After the insults Abdulmanap made a post on social media encouraging Khabib's fans to leave Taktarov alone and ignore his BS.
More info about their beef in English here:
https://harcord.com/ru/publication/...the-nurmagomedovs-full-course-of-the-conflict)
And I will keep handling it that way with Oleg. What he says and writes that's on his conscience. He is a good guy, he was our guest. We gave him gifts, trained together, gave him an honourable welcome and ready to continue to be friendly with him. Oleg, continue on in the same manner, people see everything.
Is it the first time someone treats you like this?
No, it's 7th or 8th time. But I can't react every time someone talks. I don't have time for that. I have 27 professional fighters to worry about, I have to be productive, not get distracted by stuff like this.
People probably come to you and ask for money. How many times a day. do you get requests like that?
About 10-12 times a day. I don't help anyone personally. I try to help people in general, that's education, orphanages, roads in mountain villages, different social projects. So I donate money on projects that concern many people not some one in particular.
If you would wrestle with Taktarov today, would you beat him?
You can ask Oleg who beat who in out sparring sessions. I am ready to grapple with him at any time. I have a younger brother that is world sport sambo champion, you can ask him about my grappling. Taktarov grappled with me twice, I beat him both times. There are a few people my age who can out grapple me, I am not bragging, it's just that I try to keep myself in shape. Few people my age spend 4-5 hour a day on a wrestling mat.
If you can bring Fedor Emelianenko from the middle of 2000 to our days, would he be able to become a great fighter?
He was in his best shape when he weighed 103-106 kg. I saw him like that on Russian combat sambo championship and in Dagestan open championship. Guys with that weigh can easily drop to 93 kg (205) and fight LHW. In 2005 Fedor beat CroCop who at the time weighed 112-115 kg. He was a lot bigger than Fedor. CroCop at the time was considered the best striker in the world, but Fedor beat him in his own game. Fedor has trained combat sambo, like Khabib. I have always though and still think that combat sambo the best martial art in the world.
That Fedor could be a champion today. Can we say the same about our friend Taktarov? Could he even make top 20? No, real specialist see that Fedor would be great even today. But in what weight class could Oleg (Taktarov) win a belt? Even in MW it would be unreal. Just imagine him against Romero or Whittaker.
Fedor remains a legend for me, a talented fighter. But the years take their toll. I think that he should have retired in time. That's my opinion, but he is of a different opinion. We don't knows what reasons he has to continue to compete.
Do you think that Aleksandr Emelianenko is the most talented Russian HW of all time?
We all know Aleksandr. Here we have to separate his athletic attributes and his qualities as a human being. He can go out any time and give a good fight. Even now. I respect him for his character and his combat qualities. I wish you good luck Sasha (nickname for Aleksandr).
Khabib is expecting another child.
Yes we are waiting for the birth of his 3rd child. It's a great joy. That will be my 10th grandchild.
Will it be a boy or a girl?
A son I think. Khabib already has daughter and a son. My eldest son has 3 daughters. My daughter has 3 sons.
How old are Khabib's kids?
Son i 2 yo. Daughter is 4 yo. Me and my grandson are already working on his wrestling he can already do takedowns. He does push-ups and sit-ups.
Already!?
Yes.
Did Khabib start out in the same age?
To be honest me relationship with Khabib and my grand son is completely different. I am not as hard on my grand kids as I was with my own sons. I think they are already trying to hustle me, but I'm just having fun with it. The age is taking it's toll after all.
What's the name of Khabib's son?
Magomed in honour off Khabib's grandfather.
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I don't know about that.
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