Mike Swick: Why Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father wanted fighters to avoid Thailand

Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, reportedly wanted his fighters to avoid Thailand. Khabib (29-0) and teammates like Islam Makhachev started training early in their careers at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California. While AKA California is managed by Javier Mendez, former UFC fighter Mike Swick opened another branch of AKA in Thailand. As Thailand has developed into an MMA hub over the years, AKA Thailand has hosted a plethora of elite UFC fighters. However, Khabib and his teammates never visited AKA Thailand.

No distractions

Swick recently revealed that Abdulmanap, a strict disciplinarian, had a problem with his fighters visiting Thailand. Abdulmanap was skeptical about the distractions in Thailand, which also offers a wide range of opportunities for revelry. Now that Khabib is retired, Swick hopes the UFC Hall of Famer will consider visiting his gym.“Khabib’s father always had a hard time coming to Thailand because of the distractions, so I don’t think Khabib will ever come, and probably Islam and the close ties with Khabib,” Swick told Red Corner MMA. “We get a lot of Dagestani guys coming to Thailand, but for some reason his family didn’t want that distraction when he was still in his career. Now he isn’t anymore, maybe he will come. I would love it.”