The Legacy of Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov: A Journey of Sacrifice and Success
LAS VEGAS — As the calendar flips to a new year, Khabib Nurmagomedov finds himself in a familiar setting, drenched in sweat on a wrestling mat. This time, the mat is located at the UFC Performance Institute, far from his beloved home in Dagestan. For Khabib, this three-week stint in Las Vegas feels like an eternity.
“I don’t like this, to be honest,” Khabib admits, expressing his preference for the simplicity and privacy of his home over the bustling lights of Las Vegas. “Why anyone like this?”
Surrounding Khabib on the mat is a formidable group of 20 fighters, including UFC champion Islam Makhachev and UFC title challenger Umar Nurmagomedov. Among them are several undefeated MMA fighters, a Muay Thai world champion, and a silver medalist Olympic wrestler. Together, they form what many consider the greatest team in the history of combat sports, all eyes fixed on Khabib.
“It’s not my job to say you are perfect,” Khabib tells them, listing areas for improvement. “I’m here to make you better.”
For over 30 years, the responsibility of addressing the athletes after practice belonged to Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap. He was the team’s founder and guiding force, assembling the core of this group when they were children in Sildi, a small mountain village in Dagestan, and transforming them into the MMA powerhouse they are today.
Abdulmanap’s legacy will be on full display at UFC 311 this weekend in Inglewood, California (ESPN+ PPV, Saturday at 10 p.m. ET). Makhachev (26-1) will defend his lightweight title against Arman Tsarukyan in the main event at Intuit Dome. Umar (18-0), Khabib’s cousin, will challenge bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event. A third team member, flyweight Tagir Ulanbekov (15-2), could achieve a top-10 ranking with a win in the prelims.
The historic night will unfold without Abdulmanap, who passed away at 57 in 2020 due to complications from COVID-19. Khabib retired from active competition shortly after, stepping into his father’s role as coach. While he continues to serve his father’s team out of a sense of duty, Khabib is ready for a new chapter in his life.
Coaching at a championship level is a heavy responsibility, but for Khabib, it goes deeper. He is the only one who can carry his father’s vision to completion, a task made more challenging by the absence of Abdulmanap. How does one become the person they miss most?
“When Khabib’s father passed, he wanted nothing to do with MMA — that piece of his heart almost died,” Ali Abdelaziz, Khabib’s longtime manager and friend, told ESPN. “And now, it’s like reminding him of his father everywhere he goes, every gym, every workout. He has to become his father, right? And he doesn’t want this, because he would prefer his father was still here — and he could stand behind him.”
ABDULMANAP NURMAGOMEDOV WAS born to coach.
Growing up in a rural Dagestani village in the 1960s, Abdulmanap devoted himself to his studies and freestyle wrestling. At 18, he joined the Russian military, where he learned sambo and judo. His coaches and mentors were “old school,” instilling a serious intensity in Abdulmanap’s training and learning, which he eventually passed on to his students.
“He was very disciplined,” Khabib told ESPN. “He came back to our village and began training the youth in 1985, and kept training until his last days. And some people, they learn things but there is no discipline. There is no energy. There is no knowledge. He was very educated, and he used to tell all of us that we had to be educated. So many things came together [for him as a coach].”
Abdulmanap’s grappling style is now recognized worldwide, thanks to his son. His father’s style allowed Khabib to go 29-0, creating viral moments like talking to Dana White cageside during a fight in New York while dominating his opponent. Khabib’s technique overwhelmed Conor McGregor in a submission win in 2018, one of the most-watched fights in UFC history.
This renowned style, combined with Abdulmanap’s belief in discipline, has made his stable of fighters nearly unbeatable. The core group of Khabib, Makhachev, Umar Nurmagomedov, and his younger brother, Bellator MMA lightweight champion Usman Nurmagomedov, have a combined record of 91-1.
- “I can describe this in one word: sacrifice,” Khabib said of his team’s unrivaled success. “People talk about discipline, but sometimes discipline is not enough. If you want to become the best, there is no family. If you want to spend time with your family and kids, be with them. You’re going to become the best family man, and I am not against family people.
- “I just say, ‘If you want to become the best in this business, you have to sacrifice. Sacrifice your time, sacrifice your health, sacrifice everything you have.'”
Khabib’s sacrifice as a fighter ended in 2020, after defending his UFC lightweight championship for the third time. He was at the pinnacle of the MMA world, widely considered the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter, but he couldn’t continue without his father.
He took over Abdulmanap’s role as coach, guiding his lifelong teammate Makhachev to the UFC’s 155-pound championship with a win over Charles Oliveira in October 2022. After that fight, Khabib tried to step away, stopping cornering his fighters and publicly stating he had no intention of returning. The fight world felt his absence, but the team felt it more. Abdulmanap was a memory, and now, so was his son.
“When he said he wasn’t going to corner the guys, I felt sad because we need him, you know?” American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez said. Mendez also assists in coaching the fighters who train with Khabib. “We need his presence. He’s meant to lead these guys. And they missed him. His presence is huge for their morale.”
A year passed, and Khabib continued to distance himself from the sport. In October 2023, after Makhachev defended his title against Alexander Volkanovski without Khabib in his corner, Khabib wrote on Instagram, “If you guys ask me where have I been? Why I wasn’t in the corner, I already answered this question. … I completely left everything related to MMA. I ask you to accept my decision.”
The team continued to thrive, even without Khabib’s presence. Makhachev defended his belt twice. Umar continued to stack wins and climb the UFC’s 135-pound ranks. Usman (18-0) won his title in Bellator MMA in dominant fashion. But, of course, it wasn’t the same. The group had literally grown up together in the gym. They were used to being in the gym training with Khabib. It wasn’t the same without him.
As time went on, Khabib couldn’t ignore that reality. He tried to provide input from a distance but realized it was impossible. Championship fights are won or lost in the training room, not inside the Octagon. After that realization, Khabib returned to the team ahead of Makhachev’s last title defense against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302. Khabib was in Makhachev’s corner for that fight. The team’s goal is perfection, and perfection requires sacrifice.
“Sometimes, what you think is going to be the best ends up wrong,” Khabib said. “It was more stressful to be away. I want to be with my kids, but I have to share my knowledge with my brothers, because when I was on my way to becoming champion, they were with me, you know? I have to be here.”
MAKHACHEV, WHO HAS followed in Khabib’s footsteps as not only the UFC’s lightweight champion but the No. 1 pound-for-pound fighter in the world, has trained within Abdulmanap’s system his entire life. And that system remains very much intact in 2025 — although, there are times he will notice slight variations under its new leadership.
For instance, since Makhachev was young, he has endured grappling practices in which he is forced to endure multiple high-intensity, five-minute rounds, broken up by only one-minute rests. Under Khabib, he has found himself, at times, grappling a round that is three times as long.
“I stopped him and was like, ‘Hey, man, I training with you all my life, I don’t remember when we grappled for 15 minutes nonstop,'” Makhachev recalled with a laugh. “‘We have rules. One and a half hours of training and it’s finished. You have to follow the rules.’ And [Coach Mendez] won’t stop him. He says, ‘This guy loves you and wants you to be in the cage 100 percent.’ And I understand and just listen to him.”
Other than perhaps that uptick in intensity, Khabib’s coaching style is nearly identical to his father’s, according to the team. It is impossible to explain away any tardiness to practice or any lack in energy level during it. There are stories of young fighters lining up outside of Abdulmanap’s office going back decades, seeking advice not just on fighting but on all areas of life. Today, they line up seeking advice from his son.
Khabib has made it clear that the lives and careers of his fighters are up to them, but he still has that stoic honesty he had as a fighter. He has told Makhachev, for instance, he should retire within two years, so as not to fight past his prime. He told his cousin, Umar, he shouldn’t compete during the Muslim fasting period of Ramadan, when Umar was considering it due to the never-ending pressures of the UFC schedule.
Every member of the team knows how fortunate they are to have him by their side. They also all recognize the life he continues to put on hold for their benefit. Makhachev knows his brother in arms would prefer to be at home, spending precious time with his family — and not in Las Vegas, “training” for UFC 311 (Khabib has been burning calories on the treadmill in anticipation of the physical demands of cornering three fights).
Once the core group of Makhachev, Umar, Usman, and other longtime team members are finished, Khabib says that he, too, will finally be finished. He very much looks forward to that day, but for the time being, he will finish the job his father started all those years ago. He will sacrifice.
“When these guys finish, I’m going to finish,” he said. “I hope it’s going to be very fast, because I’m tired of all this. We have been on top of this game, like, seven or eight years. We almost never lose. We have fought everyone around the world. Japan, Middle East, Europe, U.S., South America — we fight and almost never lose. We have so many belts, so many champions.
“It’s all about sacrifice. And all of these guys, they were with my father from the beginning. Yeah, when they finish, I’m going to finish, too.”
Originally Written by: Brett Okamoto
