“When Khabib is around, we train at 150%” – Umar Nurmagomedov

Umar Nurmagomedov spoke about training under the guidance of his cousin Khabib Nurmagomedov, noting that in his presence in training, you have to give all your best at 150%.

The 26-year-old fighter performs in the lightest weight category. He is currently ranked 12th in the division rankings.

– You can be sure that Khabib is an exact copy of his father. Uncle Manap didn’t drive us so hard already, and Khabib says: “Who doesn’t fight, do two workouts, don’t miss anything, every workout is important!” It is 100% easier for us to train without it than when it is present. Because he doesn’t end up with additional exercises. But I go into the octagon, I fight there. There is an awareness that Khabib will not go there. Therefore, we give ourselves completely in training. You will do in the cage what you did in sparring. You can’t do more than this, even if you break on the floor. You just won’t be able to do it. Therefore, we train regardless of whether Khabib is near or not. But when Khabib is around, we do 150%, not 100%. There will be more work with Khabib.

What is the hardest thing about working with him? It’s hard for me to fight him because he’s bigger than me. Yes, he lets me work, lets me take some positions, shows me something, but for me one of the hardest things is grappling with him. And with Islam Makhachev, with Mammadov, with Gadzhi Rabadanov. They are bigger than me, it’s hard for me to give them submissions, and then they sit at the table and say: “Today I did three submissions to Umar!” You try to prevent this and resist it, – Sport24 quotes Nurmagomedov.

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