Khabib Nurmagomedov is widely considered to be one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Even after retiring in 2020, the former UFC Lightweight Champion has stayed closely associated with the sport in which he made his name.
Together with Javier Mendez, his longtime coach at the American Kickboxing Academy, he has been instrumental in mentoring fighters like Islam Makhachev, Belal Muhammad and his cousin Usman Nurmagomedov on their way to success in both the UFC and Bellator.
His love for MMA was on full display in a video recently posted to social media by Mendes, where Khabib can be seen smiling broadly while watching footage of Cain Veslasquez’s victory over Brock Lesnar at UFC 121 in October 2010.
Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘Deleted Everything on his Phone’ to Ensure to Watch Velasquez vs Lesnar
The heavyweight bout was one of the most anticipated in UFC history at the time
While he would go on to become one of the most successful fighters the promotion has ever seen, Khabib was still 18 months away from signing with the UFC at the time of Lesnar vs Velasquez and was nowhere near as wealthy as he is today. To make sure he would be able to watch the showdown, a young Khabib Nurmagomedov took drastic action. Recalling his memories of the fight while watching the highlights on a phone, Khabib explained that he had to “delete everything” from his phone at the time in order to download the bout.
“In 2010, I have a Nokia, okay, and I don’t have memory there. I delete everything and I download this fight exactly, and I watch this fight maybe 100 or 200 times, every day!”
Velasquez destroyed Lesnar inside a round to win the UFC heavyweight title and Mendes’ clip shows just how invested he is in the action – even though it took place close to 14 years ago! After reliving the finish one more time, Khabib Nurmagomedov turns to Velasquez – who was visiting the gym at the time the clip was filmed – to shower the Mexican heavyweight with praise.
“First-ever Mexican heavyweight champion, right? I’m proud of him.”
An unquestionable student of the sport, Mendes explained in his social media post that a young Khabib had been inspired by watching Cain’s crowning moment on repeat.
“Khabib Nurmagomedov knows all. He watched Cain Velasquez [beat Lesnar] over 100 times on his Nokia in 2010 when he only had five pro fights [Khabib had actually just won his ninth career fight at the time of UFC 121]. It always amazed me how much knowledge he has on so many different levels not just related to sports. Knowledge is power and the [The Eagle] has huge knowledge.”
Although he stepped away from active competition four years ago after promising his mother that he would no longer fight after the passing of his father, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s infectious love of MMA is clear to see. He briefly stepped away from coaching in 2023 to spend more time with his family, but couldn’t stay away for long. He returned in June to help prepare Islam Makhachev to successfully defend his lightweight title against Dustin Poirier at UFC 302.
Belal Muhammad was also recently full of praise for the role that Khabib played in helping him to defeat Leon Edwards to win the welterweight championship at UFC 304, telling CBS Sports’ Shakiel Mahjouri that working with the legendary fighter put him “on another level”.
Muhammad declared: “Training with [Khabib Nurmagomedov] and getting advice from him is worth 20, 30, 40, 50 days with anybody else. The knowledge is endless, because to me, I think he’s the GOAT of the MMA world in the UFC and just like a brother and that I could message and ask, and anytime I send a question, he’ll respond. So, it’s just literally priceless to have that guy in my life.”