All in the family: Fighter says Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s legacy continues

Usman Nurmagomedov says the shoes of their late coach, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, have been nicely filled by his son, Khabib Nurmagomedov.Usman, Khabib, Islam Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov and their entire team, filled with elite fighters, were initially trained by Abdulmanap in the mountains of Dagestan.

Abdulmanap later brought the team to the US to train at the American Kickboxing Academy under Javier Mendez. Khabib retired as the undefeated Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight champion following the death of his father in 2020. “The Eagle” has since taken on the responsibility of guiding the team alongside Mendez.Usman believes that Khabib fits the role of Abdulmanap very well. The Professional Fighters League lightweight champion says his cousin Khabib knows exactly how much to push a fighter during training. Since the team is filled with champions from every major MMA promotion, you’d expect them to do plenty of training on their own anyway. However, Usman knows from experience that everyone can push their limits a little more when Khabib is training.

“I would compare Khabib’s role to that of our late uncle Abdulmanap,” Usman told Red Corner MMA. “He is always in the center, he gives orders, he knows what a fighter has to go through and he knows how much a man has to train. Because when we train alone – I know from my own experience here and there – you may think you have done enough work, but when Khabib is next to you, with all his experience, he pushes us a little bit more, he pushes us to the limit.”