When Javier Mendez spoke about the only time UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov was close to being submitted
Khabib Nurmagomedov never lost a single fight in his mixed martial arts career and arguably lost only a single round during his time in the UFC. That famed dominance even extended beyond the octagon to his gym sessions.
According to his long-time coach Javier Mendez, Nurmagomedov never lost a sparring session throughout their time together. Mendez said in an interview on Real Quick with Mike Swick:
"I said it, what people don't fully understand, he is the only person that's never lost a sparring session. I never said rounds, I said session. Never in his life, since I have known him, has he lost a sparring session. He might lose a round here and there, never lost a sparring session, never been submitted, never been close to being submitted in actual MMA sparring. Never."
However, Mendez then detailed the time American freestyle wrestler Kyle Crutchmer was close to submitting 'The Eagle':
"The only time I seen him close to being submitted was one time when Kyle Crutchmer - I was like so shocked, dude I was about to go, grab my camera and go, 'Oh okay I got him. I'm gonna film him get actually tapped out.' And he got out of it. And I was like, 'How the effin' hell did he do that?' Hey, he's a phenom, that's just the way it is."
Watch Mendez's comments below:
Watch Javier Mendez's complete interview with Mike Swick below:
Khabib Nurmagomedov wants to "take over" in new role as coach
Khabib Nurmagomedov set the standard for dominance in mixed martial arts and is ushering in a new generation of champion fighters after his retirement from the sport.
Dagestani dominance across the board might soon be the norm, as Khabib Nurmagomedov declared in a recent public appearance in Toronto for Class A Events. 'The Eagle' said:
“Right now we have current UFC and Bellator lightweight champions. This is amazing. I hear long time ago when one guy was talking about, ‘We here to take over.’ But we here to take over. And what’s interesting is I coach not a lot of people. I coach people that was around me when I was active fighter, this is maybe like 12-15 guys. Like 13 people we have combined win in MMA almost 300 fights. This is crazy. Nobody ever did this in MMA before. It’s never happened."
While Islam Makhachev and Usman Nurmagomedov sit atop their respective lightweight divisions in the UFC and Bellator, there are plenty of others waiting in the wings to take over from them.
Watch Khabib Nurmagomedov's complete comments below [Courtesy MMA Junkie's YouTube channel]: