Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov is the father of Khabib and recently passed away in Russia
The UFC world lost a huge presence in Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov as Khabib’s father passed away.
The Russian had undergone heart surgery but had to be placed in a medically-induced coma. However, he developed Covid-19 symptoms during his stay in the hospital and unfortunately passed away.
Abdulmanap wasn’t just Khabib’s father but he also was a decorated MMA coach in his home town. He had done a lot for Russian wrestling and there are some great stories about how strong and motivated he was to be the best and ensure he was with the best:
1) Tried to defeat Daniel Cormier
Former UFC Heavyweight Champion Daniel Cormier shared an uplifting story on Abdulmanap. This came after the news of Nurmagomedov Sr undergoing heart surgery recently.
DC claimed Abdulmanap wanted to fight him and claimed he was one of the strongest people he knows:
“I was at the Ultimate Fighter gym one time and his dad grabbed me to wrestle with me, and he threw me down, so him and I started trying to tussle around.
“Khabib goes ‘DC, this guy really tried to win!’ Then I realized his dad was trying to beat me. He’s not just wrestling with you to play around, he’s the real deal, man!”
Khabib and his father had been seen several times in the Octagon together, and this was proof that Nurmagomedov Sr wasn’t just beside his son for motivation.
2) Punishment for his son
Khabib and long-time rival Conor McGregor were involved in a huge battle after UFC 229. While Khabib kept hold of the Lightweight title, he jumped over the Octagon and attacked a few personal.
Khabib had been targeted by McGregor in the lead-up to the fight. However, this was a scary incident which could have led to bystanders being injured too.
Abdulmanap wasn’t pleased with the antics of his son, and claimed he would punish him worse than anything else possible:
“You do whatever you want in the Octagon but outside this is the border of civilians where there are children, women and strangers”, Abdulmanap told to a Russian outlet.
Khabib also said that his father would “smash him” once he returned home. Abdulmanap said he would be “very hard on this” and “discipline comes first”.
3) Amazing coaching background
Abdulmanap isn’t just known to be the father of Khabib, he also trained a lot in Judo and Sambo. The Russian is known for producing and coaching several top talents across Dagestan.
Abdulmanap also spent some time in the army and picked up various martial arts during his time there.
4) Made Khabib fight a bear
It is safe to say that Abdulmanap’s training regime wasn’t normal. Khabib has spoken about fighting on the streets of Dagestan while growing up, but he got a different training technique when he was just nine.
Abdulmanap used to test Khabib’s wrestling skills by making him fight a bear. Khabib is unbeaten in his MMA career so far, and it is safe to say that some of this training helped him.
Abd the Lightweight champion also had some great words for his parents, even though he was part of some strange training methods.
5) Destroyed Khabib’s agent
Ali Abdelaziz is one of the greatest MMA managers in the world, and he even recounted how tough Khabib’s father was.
Abdelaziz was speaking at an event and got into a sparring session with Abdulmanap. However, the senior Nurmagomedov got the better of the agent:
“He [Nurmagomedov Sr] smashed me. He said, ‘Hey, you think you are strong?’, I said, ‘Yeah’, and he smiled and he grabbed me, he held tight and almost broke my whole chest.”
Abdelaziz is no slouch as he is trained in Judo, but Abdulmanap got the better of the Egyptian and the agent confirmed that Khabib’s father had defeated him.
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