About Khabib Nurmagomedov
Here’s the thing: Although Russian Sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and judo are all about ground fighting, wrestling has always dominated the MMA takedowns category. It’s difficult to believe that anyone knew what Khabib Nurmagomedov was about to accomplish before to his fight with Abel Trujillo at UFC 160.
You see, William Penn University’s Trujillo was a four-time NAIA All-American wrestler. Nurmagomedov is a two-time Combat Sambo World Champion, so it’s not like he was new to ground combat, but what happened that evening at UFC 160 undoubtedly opened some minds.
Trujillo wasn’t simply outgrappled by Nurmagomedov. No, he DOMINATED ground combat, knocking the former All American to the ground a UFC-record 21 times (on 27 attempts).
And on that day, the MMA community recognized that a new star had been born, if they hadn’t already.
This is the tale of Nurmagomedov.
Martial Arts History
It would have been challenging for Nurmagomedov to stay away from combat sports. His father is a national master of sports in freestyle wrestling, a former Sambo Ukrainian National Champion, and a black belt in judo. What did that mean, exactly?
Nurmagomedov learned to wrestle from his father at first. He spent five years working on freestyle wrestling, but when he didn’t get the results he wanted, he switched to judo under Jafar Jafarov.
From there, Nurmagomedov recounted the situation to UFC Espanol as follows: “My childhood was very typical. I wanted to be a professional athlete, but my father encouraged me to pursue academics. He and I have always disagreed on this matter, but in 2005, my father discovered that I had a natural talent for combat, and he began training me to become the finest in the world.
Later, Nurmagomedov went on to win the Combat Sambo Russian National Championship and the Combat Sambo World Championship twice.
Khabib enrolled in the State University of the Ministry of Finance in Makhachkala after graduating from high school to study economics.
Beginnings of MMA
Nurmagomedov made his professional MMA debut by submitting Vusal Bayramov in the opening round at a CSFU event, three years after his father started taking his training seriously. However, he didn’t recognize his skill until a few years later.
When he won the Sambo world title in 2010, he commented, “I recognized it. “I intensified my training and began pursuing my goal of competing in the UFC.”
Before the UFC approached, Nurmagomedov had won his first 16 fights as a professional.
debut of UFC
Nurmagomedov defeated Kamal Shalorus at UFC on FX: Guillard vs. Miller on January 20, 2012, by rear naked choke.
Combative Style
Nurmagomedov is a ground-and-pound nightmare for opponents, taking them down at will and never seeming to gas, so it’s amazing to hear that he initially didn’t get the results in freestyle wrestling that he sought. In fact, he employs cardio and a fast tempo while standing to wear down opponents, even though his stand up isn’t always as proficient as his ground skills.
