Khabib Nurmagomedov fulfilled one of his dreams recently when he established another training facility. What’s special is the fact that he built this new facility, which has been reported to cost around $5 million, in his hometown mountainous village in Sildi, Dagestan. And guess what? ‘The Eagle’s new state-of-the-art facility is the first infrastructure dedicated to MMA training in his hometown.
The UFC Hall of Famer’s hometown is as remote as a region can be. Located in the mountains, people don’t really have any access to stores for groceries and other amenities. Instead, they grow their own food and, as Khabib’s cousin Umar Nurmagomedov put it during a recent interview with MMA enthusiast Adam Zubayraev, people in Sildi are “self-sufficient.” But for MMA training, though, things are very difficult.
You see, Khabib Nurmagomedov’s hometown village is inhabited by a little over a couple of hundred people. So, people who want to establish training centers find it hard to make a good living because of the lack of students. As Adam Zubayraev visited Khabib’s training facility, one of the fighters there said, “In the mountains, it’s actually tough. There are no gyms. No coaches.”
The unnamed fighter further stated, “Say you’re a coach in a village. You live off whatever the kids pay. And maybe there are ten kids in the whole village in the same age group. How much are you gonna earn from 10 kids?” Then again, another teammate entered the conversation, claiming that some of those students are relatives of their teammates.
This makes it even harder to make a living by opening more gyms. “And eight of them are your nephews,” that teammate added. Claiming that Khabib Nurmagomedov’s facility is the only one in his village, the fighter added, “They’re training for free. Family membership. You can’t feed a family like that — that’s why there are so few gyms and coaches.”
MMA: UFC 280-Nurmagomedov vs Omargadzhiev Oct 22, 2022 Abu Dhabi, UAE Khabib Nurmagomedov is seen before the fight between Abubakar Nurmagomedov red gloves and Gadzhi Omargadzhiev blue gloves during UFC 280 at Etihad Arena. Abu Dhabi UAE, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xCraigxKidwellx 20221022_jla_ooo_177
Well, at least there is someplace now for fighters in Sildi to train because Khabib Nurmagomedov never had the opportunity like the new generation of fighters do. As such, the 29-0 legend had to move to the capital of Dagestan. Let’s take a look at that front.
Khabib Nurmagomedov had to move from his hometown due to a lack of training facilities
According to Khabib Nurmagomedov’s official website, ‘The Eagle’ showed signs of interest in fighting from a very early age. Remember the video of him wrestling a bear cub? That surprised many foreign fighters. But as one of the Sildi fighters said, there was no place for him to train there, so he decided to make the shift from his hometown to Makhachkala when he was around 11 or 12 years old.
It was in 2001 when Khabib Nurmagomedov came to the Dagestani capital. He was already training under his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, but to level up in his training methods, it was essential for him to make that move. That paid dividends as he not only became a world champion but also an icon of the mixed martial arts space. Now, years after leaving his hometown to become what he became, ‘The Eagle’ paid back his dues to Sildi.
While there may be just one training facility in Khabib’s hometown, it will still help fighters get an avenue to further their skills, with the state-of-the-art facilities available in the $5 million training center. Under the Hall of Famer’s watch, we are likely to get some new Dagestani talents appearing on the professional scene in the future. What do you reckon? Let us know in the comments down below.
The post Khabib Nurmagomedov’s $5M Facility Faces Reality Check as Teammates Share Struggle to Feed Families appeared first on EssentiallySports.
