BRAVE CF President Mohammed Shahid gives his take on Khabib Nurmagomedov as a promoter
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC has already made headlines in the MMA world. The former UFC champion has been successful so far as a promoter. BRAVE CF president Mohammed Shahid noted that Khabib is smart enough to pull off the role.
Speaking ahead of BRAVE CF 57 in Bahrain, Shahid noted that 'The Eagle' is a brilliant individual who understands the sport of MMA.
Shahid told Sportskeeda:
“I think Khabib is a very smart individual. He understands the sport from Day 1. We have met a lot of athletes from Dagestan. He is an intelligent athlete. We know that from his fighting days itself. Apart from his intelligence as an athlete, I know that he is intelligent in terms of being a human being. In terms of understanding the sport, understanding people and understanding his students as well. He is very smart and brilliant individual.”
Shahid and BRAVE Combat Federation have been working towards creating a new ecosystem for MMA where they want the sport to move from an event business to a sport business. Speaking further, Shahid said that he is hopeful that Khabib also shares the same vision as that of BRAVE Combat Federation, saying:
“He must be having his vision and strategy and I hope that it is in synch with our strategy because there is not other strategy than our strategy that is the truth.”
Mohammed Shahid details why fighters like Khabib Nurmagomedov from countries with less opportunities thrive
Elaborating on the intelligence of the former UFC lightweight champion, Mohammed Shahid said that fighters from countries with fewer opportunities need to think smarter because they have no other choice. He said:
“When we look at countries that did not have that many opportunities compared to the American world that had UFC nearby, Bellator in the other door, PFL, Titan FC, you know everything given. When you look at countries like Dagestan or Bahrain, they need to think smarter. They know that they cannot go there and stay there without learning English so their training program includes conditioning, grappling, jiu-jitsu and English. That’s when they understand better.”
Shahid has been working closely with Khabib’s childhood friend and Dagestan’s Eldar Eldarov in Bahrain to grow the sport. The BRAVE CF president also holds a great working relationship with the Russian superstar as a result of which he was seen as a guest for past BRAVE Combat Federation events.
BRAVE Combat Federation will be returning to action on March 11, 2022 for BRAVE CF 57 which will be held at the Khalifa Sports City Arena in Bahrain. The event will be headlined by three title fights, with the main event being the BRAVE CF bantamweight title fight between Bahrain’s Hamza Kooheji and Canada’s Brad Katona. The event will be live on www.bravecftv.com.