UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov is set to return to action later this year. But while he is preparing for his return to the Octagon, he is going back to an old training tactic. In a video posted to Instagram by American Kickboxing Academy coach Javier Mendez, Nurmagomedov can be seen wrestling a “street fighting bear” before giving it a treat.
If you have been following Nurmagomedov throughout his career, you have seen an old video that shows him wrestling bears as a pre-teen.
We can now see that Nurmagomedov has not forgotten his roots.
Check out the video below:
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bwrel6fBi-s/?utm_source=ig_embed
The Dagestani champion became the first Russian and first Muslim to win a UFC championship thanks in large part to his training by his father, Abdulmanap. His father was a wrestler and trained in judo and sambo in the military before converting the ground floor of Nurmagomedov’s home into a gym. Khabib developed into two-time Combat Sambo World Champion before joining the UFC.
Nurmagomedov had his most recent outing was his fourth-round submission win over McGregor at UFC 229 in Las Vegas where he retained his title on Saturday, Oct. 6, 2018.
With the win, Khabib advanced to 27-0 in his professional career. His 27 consecutive wins gives him the longest winning streak in all of mixed martial arts. Khabib first won the vacant lightweight championship on April 7, 2018 at UFC 223 when he scored a dominant decision win over Al Iaquinta in Brooklyn, New York. He became the first Russian to win a UFC title. The submission victory over McGregor was his first title defense.
