Josh Thomson explains why Dagestani wrestling taught by Khabib Nurmagomedov's late father Abdulmanap makes fighters from the region seem invincible: "That style of what they do and what they are good at, it benefits them"
Khabib Nurmagomedov's father, Abdulmanap, would have been immensely proud of the performance put on by Islam Makhachev at UFC 280.
Makhachev was able to secure the UFC lightweight title after a flawless performance against Charles Oliveira.
The talking point going into the contest was the matchup between Makhachev's sambo-wrestling skills and Oliveira's Brazilian jiu-jitsu ability. While there were incredible scrambles during the fight, the Dagestani was able to control 'do Bronx' with relative ease on the ground.
According to Josh Thomson, the reason for the Dagestani's dominance is Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Thomson is a longtime training partner of Makhachev's at the American Kickboxing Academy, and the co-host of MMA podcast Weighing In.
The podcast host used the example of how world class BJJ player Kade Ruotolo was able to submit a Sambo champion (Uali Kurzhev) at a recent ONE Championship event. On the most recent episode, Thomson reflected on his teammate's performance:
"People don't realise the Dagestani/Sambo style of wrestling, which is learned from Khabib's dad, that style of what they do and what they are good at... it benefits them. We've seen countless Sambo guys come in, I watched one last night go against a Ruotolo brother, Kade. He didn't look that good, that guy got submitted...By a jiu-jitsu guy."
Watch the video below from 3:22:
Islam Makhachev on continuing the legacy of Khabib Nurmagomedov's father Abdulmanap
The late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, father of UFC Hall of Famer Khabib Nurmagomedov, always wanted Islam Makhachev to follow in his son's footsteps.
Makhachev was able to fulfill a lifelong goal and continue the legacy of Abdulmanap on Saturday night when he was crowned champion. Makhachev has no doubt made his late coach proud, and spoke to Megan Olivi on ESPN MMA about what it means to continue Abdulmanap's legacy:
"Always he told that after Khabib retired, Islam has to take his belt. But many things happened when he... Now I take the belt from Charles, but if he was with us right now I could've taken this belt a couple of years ago."
Watch the video below from 0:45:
Islam Makhachev will hope to emulate the dominance shown by Khabib Nurmagomedov during his own title reign and continue to honor the legacy of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov.