Crazy 'time' statistic shows how similar Khabib Nurmagomedov and Islam Makhachev's UFC careers were before winning the title

Islam Makhachev and Khabib Nurmagomedov have been close friends and training partners since they were children. The lightweight champion is not related to 'The Eagle' by blood, but Nurmagomedov has admitted in the past that he shares a closer bond with Makhachev than many of his family members.

Both men have displayed similar levels of dominance throughout their MMA careers, using their wealth of grappling knowledge to defeat their opponents. The most notable difference between their careers would be the single loss on Islam Makhachev's record, compared to Khabib Nurmagomedov's record of 29-0.

Now an incredible statistic has been posted online by @freak.mma on Instagram showing just how similar both their careers have been. The statistic compares the total time spent inside the octagon prior to being awarded a UFC title fight, and the difference is startling.

"Islam Makhachev's octagon time until getting a title fight (1:50:07)"

"Khabib Nurmagomedov's octagon time until getting a title fight (1:50:12)"

See the post below:

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Makhachev's eventual rise to become the UFC lightweight champion is in no small part thanks to the late-father of 'The Eagle', Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who created what has become known as "father's plan".

The lightweight king has been regarded as Khabib 2.0 by several training partners and coaches in the past, and their total octagon time pre-title fight indicates their careers may be more alike than previously thought.

Colby Covington sends a warning to Islam Makhachev over welterweight title hopes

Islam Makhachev's recent callout of welterweight champion Leon Edwards on Twitter appears to have rubbed Colby Covington the wrong way. It is understood that the UFC are targeting a matchup between Edwards and Covington for later this year, and 'Chaos' has now sent a warning to Makhachev to stay at lightweight.

The Dagestani cuts a lot of weight to make the 155 pound limit, and his frame would certainly fit in at welterweight. Prior to the UFC 294 matchup with Charles Oliveira being announced, Islam Makhachev did not appear to have many contenders to face in October. Hence the lightweight champion calling out Leon Edwards.

Colby Covington appeared on Submission Radio recently where he discussed Makhachev's callout. 'Chaos' said this:

"It looked like a desperation play. It looks like Islam's afraid to defend his title against Charles... He might have to come up some day, and now you're talking a big game, you know... Keep acting like you wanna come up to daddy's division, Colby Chaos Covington's division, then you're gonna get smacked in the face..."

Watch the video below:

.@colbycovmma sends a warning to Islam Makhachev about coming to his division! 👀

“You keep acting like you wanna come up to Daddy's division. Colby Chaos coming to his division. Then you're gonna get smacked in the face.”

Full interview
🎥: youtu.be/7-MAOiGfdwo pic.twitter.com/q2I1YzOGim