Khabib Wants Islam Makhachev To Be Better Than Him, Says Fighter’s Manager

Khabib Nurmagomedov was one among, if not probably the most dominant UFC fighter ever, however the retired, undefeated, former champion needs somebody to really be higher than he was … Islam Makhachev!

In fact, Makhachev is preventing Alex Volkanovski in just some hours in the primary occasion at UFC 294 … and we not too long ago spoke with Ali Abdelaziz, Islam and Khabib’s supervisor and shut good friend, about their relationship.

“Khabib wants Islam to be better. That’s what’s beautiful about it,” Ali stated of Nurmagomedov’s want for his pupil to surpass his accomplishments.

Whether or not 31-year-old Makhachev is best in sure areas (hanging, for instance) is up for debate … however on the subject of pure dominance of an opponent, Ali does not consider Islam’s quiet on Khabib’s (29-0) stage simply but.

“Islam lost, Khabib never lost. Islan might be all the way technically better, but dominance, I don’t think anybody can be as dominant as Khabib is. You see Henry lose, Kamaru. A lot of guys lost. Khabib never even have one blood leave his body. When you have a guy who never bled in 29 fights, it’s very hard to match him. It’s a very tall order to match him. It’s almost impossible.”

However, that is precisely what Khabib needs for Islam … who has a report of 24-1. His sole loss got here in 2015.

Abdelaziz does suppose there’s one other fighter who’s nearer to Nurmagomedov’s dominance … Umar Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s cousin.

Umar is 16-0, and 4-0 within the UFC … and the twelfth ranked bantamweight.

“The guy who is closer to Khabib than anybody is Umar. I truly believe Umar is the closest to Khabib’s dominance.”

For Islam, the #3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in your complete UFC, a win over #2 ranked Volkanovski can be one other step in direction of fulfilling Khabib’s want.