It turns out there was a reason why Khabib Nurmagomedov opted to use a triangle choke to submit Justin Gaethje.
Nurmagomedov became the undisputed lightweight champion following his second-round submission win over Gaethje in the UFC 254 headliner this past weekend.
It was the first time “The Eagle” had submitted an opponent in the UFC using the triangle choke submission and as per Daniel Cormier, there was one big reason why he chose to utilize it.
“I spoke to Khabib yesterday and we were talking about it — he told me when he was watching the interviews over the course of the week, he saw that Justin said that he would never tap. Justin would never tap,” Cormier told Ariel Helwani. “So when he was going for the submission — he said it’s [mounted triangle choke from an armbar] his dad’s favorite submission — he was going to do the armbar.
“But he heard Justin saying all week he would never tap and he didn’t want to hurt him in front of his parents so he went to the triangle and just kinda put him to sleep.”
You need to hear the reason @TeamKhabib switched from the armbar to a triangle against Justin Gaethje at #UFC254
(via @dc_mma) pic.twitter.com/jjCXgm3r3e
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) October 26, 2020
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Gaethje’s parents, of course, were allowed to attend the fight at Gaethje’s request. And while Gaethje did tap before being put to sleep — mainly due to what seemed to be a late stoppage — it was certainly not the worst way to lose in a Nurmagomedov fight.
All in all, it further shows just how much Nurmagomedov is actually processing things in the moment during a fight.
What do you think of Cormier’s revelation?