Khabib Nurmagomedov described as Islam Makhachev's 'Remote Control' by Henry Cejudo
Henry Cejudo weighed in on the influence Khabib Nurmagomedov had Islam Makhachev's fighting style.
Cejudo uploaded a video to his YouTube channel, where he and Demetrious Johnson recapped the recent superfight between Makhahcev and Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 284. During their assessment of the fight, the former two-division UFC champion described Nurmagomedov's coaching demeanor with his protege.
He said:
"If there's somebody that could make those adjustments, it is gonna be Islam [Makhachev]. And I think this time around, there's something about him and Khabib [Nurmagomedov] that Khabib was kinda able to be that remote control for him, so exactly, 'Brother, brother, whatcha you do?'" [3:23 - 3:38]
'Mighty Mouse' chimmed in and spoke about the adjustments made throughout the fight as the lightweight champion seemed to get more fatigued in the later rounds. He told Cejudo that he was surprised that the Dagestani didn't use the advantage he had with his range, saying:
"I'm just shocked that he didn't poke more. With him having the range advantage, poke more like front-kicks...high-kicks cause it's not like for a shorter fighter like to force him to like, 'I have to get across.' That's the one thing I was shocked he didn't do which is use jab more...just because he's longer." [3:58 - 4:18]
It will be interesting to see what the promotion does with the lightweight champion as there could be a strong case for an immediate rematch, which could be a possibility because Yair Rodriguez is the interim featherweight champion and could defend the title while 'Volk' challenges Makhachev again.
Check out the full video:
Henry Cejudo believes Yair Rodriguez could dethrone Alexander Volkanovski at featherweight
#UFC284YAIR RODRIGUEZ BY SUBMISSION!
HE IS THE INTERIM FEATHERWEIGHT CHAMPION 🏆 #UFC284 https://t.co/4Uwqgvj4Dc
Henry Cejudo was impressed with Yair Rodriguez's performance at UFC 284, which saw him submitt Josh Emmett to win the interim featherweight championship.
During the affromentioned video, 'Triple C' told former UFC flyweight champion Demetrious Johnson that Rodriguez is one fighter at 145lbs that could pose a threat to Alexander Volkanovski. The interim title win sets him up for a unification bout whenever 'Volk' returns to featherweight.
He said:
"If there's one guy that I think that can give Volkanovski trouble at 145lbs, it is Yair Rodriguez." [5:18 - 5:25]
It will be interesting to see whether 'Pantera' defends the vacant title so Volkanovski can fight Makhachev again or if the featherweight title unification bout is the next fight.