When Khabib Nurmagomedov shared honest take on Daniel Cormier's wrestling prowess: "He is like very big bear"
Khabib Nurmagomedov once delved into a detailed discussion about Daniel Cormier's credibility as a wrestler. Cormier is a former UFC double champion, an Olympian, and an NCAA Division I national finalist.
During his UFC career, Cormier trained at the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) under Javier Mendez. Not long after, 'The Eagle' joined him there, marking the beginning of their friendship.
Recently, a clip was uploaded by XkrullMMA on YouTube in which the Dagestani shared his thoughts on Cormier's wrestling prowess, stating:
"He [Cormier] is like very big bear. He's very strong. They think like he's short, fat heavyweight. When people contact with him they understand he's like completely different. He's like very very strong... No I never submit him but we wrestle a lot. He teach me a lot of things like on the ground, on the wall, like how to wrestle, like a lot of things."
Check out Khabib Nurmagomedov's comments below:
While Cormier announced his retirement from MMA in August 2020, Nurmagomedov retired in October 2020. Currently, they still maintain a strong bond and occasionally train together at AKA.
When Daniel Cormier jumped in to defuse UFC 229 brawl involving Khabib Nurmagomedov
Conor McGregor faced Khabib Nurmagomedov for the lightweight title at UFC 229. In the fourth round of the fight, Nurmagomedov defeated McGregor by submission. Due to their intense rivalry, a brawl erupted immediately after the finish.
Years later, during an episode of ESPN MMA's Good Guy/Bad Guy, Daniel Cormier recounted how he had to step in to help defuse the situation. He said:
"I was in the building sitting in the front row with my family... When the fight [brawl] happens, I jump over the octagon to go fight and then immediately catch my head that I have to stop these guys... I start stopping the fight, I calm Khabib down, I get him to leave the octagon, Dana refunds me all my money. [White] goes, 'Hey man, without you we would've been in some crazy trouble. Could you please get him out of the octagon?'”
Check out Daniel Cormier's comments below (25:08):