The one team that has been dominating the MMA realm for about a decade is the Dagestani team. The men who began this trend, Khabib Nurmagomedov and his late father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, ensured that the team was disciplined and had the resilience needed to rise victorious in each and every matchup that they landed in. Despite that, Team Khabib wasn’t all immune to defeats. Yes, we’re talking about Umar Nurmagomedov’s loss at UFC 311. And the close call Usman Nurmagomedov had at PFL against Paul Hughes. However, the Dagestani team was always ready to support one another. And that’s what arguably caught Chael Sonnen’s attention. He hailed Team Khabib up high and even compared it with legendary NBA teams. But do you know what Nurmagomedov had to say about Sonnen’s praise? Stick with the piece to know that!
‘The Bad Guy’ took to his talk show and talked of a situation where he gave the public to choose from three options – Khabib Nurmagomedov, Islam Makhachev, and ‘Let’s not talk about it’. He revealed that about 37% of the fight fans chose ‘The Eagle’ and 17% chose the current lightweight champion. Meanwhile, the rest of the netizens chose the third magical option. He said, “What are we trying to turn these guys on one another for? Why can’t we recognize, guys, we got one real team in the world.” Well, the one real team wasn’t anything that belonged to the NBA. It wasn’t LeBron James’ LA Lakers or the Boston Celtics. He said, “It’s not the Lakers. Those guys are w—–. You write a big enough cheque, they’ll put your jersey on. It’s not the Boston Celtics. Those guys are w—–.”
‘The American Gangster’ continued, “The only real team that we have is Khabib’s team. The only guys where guys actually come to the same gym and they come up together and they help one another. They pass it forward. The only guys that actually go to the same place, based on proximity of where they grew up and were born. The only real team we have, in any sport, anywhere, is Khabib’s team.”
Now, we have no idea why Sonnen would take a swipe at NBA and the Lakers. James’ team recently traded Anthony Davis for Luka Donkic in a historic and surprising move, but Sonnen had no clue about any of it. His ‘Good Guy/Bad Guy’ co-host Daniel Cormier had to explain, “Basketball player, man, you have to know that Luka Doncic got traded for Anthony Davis; you gotta know this.”
Sonnen’s response? “I appreciate you telling me. I did not know that. I got so busy yesterday that I didn’t watch the Super Bowl. I was trying to watch it. And I saw the Manning boys were up on TV and they were all involved and they were like who’s who.”
Sonnen’s words found their way to Instagram as a fan account shared the clip of the video on the social media platform. And coincidentally, Khabib Nurmagomedov happened to stumble upon the reel. We know that Nurmagomedov is a man of few words. But this time he chose to remain completely quiet with his reaction. He shared the reel on his IG story and captioned it with a single emoji.
The world of mixed martial arts has often talked about the discipline of the Dagestani team. Even Joe Rogan and Royce Gracie have talked about the kind of discipline that the Dagestanis have to follow to rise to the top. However, Nurmagomedov claimed that it was all possible because of one word, and that wasn’t discipline.
What is the secret behind Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team’s success?
During an interview with ESPN MMA’s Brett Okamoto prior to UFC 311, Nurmagomedov said, ”I can describe this in one word: all about sacrifice. People talk about discipline, but sometimes discipline is not enough. All about sacrifice.” ‘The Eagle’ went on to narrate a story that happened a few days before the interview. He recalled that a fighter from Mexico, who trained with Team Khabib, asked the coach to allow him to go to Mexico during the holidays. But he was met with a stern reply.
Nurmagomedov went on, “And I told him…’If you want to become the best, there is no family’… I just say, ‘if you want to become best in this business, you have to sacrifice. Sacrifice your time, sacrifice your health, and sacrifice everything good you have’.” With everything removed from their lives, the hunger for greatness went on the rise.
The world of mixed martial arts has now come to fear the Dagestani’s wrestling. With the base fixed with Sambo, any other martial arts techniques that the fighters learned were added as bonuses. And like Javier Mendez liked to call it, ‘Father’s plan’ ensured that the fighters bled as little as possible while still securing their big wins. And sacrifice put in the concoction of discipline helped the Dagestani team rise.
But there were a few more aspects that made the Dagestani team the one true team in the world. Mendez pointed out through an IG post that Team Khabib and AKA were truly family and loyalty will always be #1. And that was something that even Daniel Cormier was aware of. After all, ‘The Eagle’ respectfully refused to be Jon Jones‘ friend just because DC was in a conflict with him. And on the same lines, he did not appreciate DC being cordial with Conor McGregor either. Such loyalty is indeed a rare thing in the modern world, don’t you agree?
Has Team Khabib succeeded in inspiring you? What aspect of the Dagestani team do you admire? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
The post Not LeBron James’ Lakers, but Khabib Nurmagomedov & Islam Makhachev’s Team Gets Unique Recognition From UFC Legend appeared first on EssentiallySports.
