Former undisputed lightweight champion and Hall of Fame inductee, Khabib Nurmagomedov has been branded as the most “dangerous” fighter to ever step inside the Octagon by head coach, Javier Mendez, who squashed claims from Daniel Cormier that teammate, Islam Makhachev was likely more skilful than the ex-gold holder.
Nurmagomedov, a former undisputed lightweight champion and unbeaten fighter during his illustrious mixed martial arts career, has been retired from active competition for the previous four years, most recently defeating Justin Gaethje.
Successfully unifying the crowns, Nurmagomedov retired from the sport in the immediate aftermath of his triangle submission win, before going on to coach at American Kickboxing Academy for a brief period – guiding the above-mentioned Makhchev to the lightweight crown with a submission win of his over Charles Oliveira.
And recently, despite his dominance inside the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov was branded likely second best in terms of skillset and ability to Makhachev by former training partner and UFC color commentator, Cormier, who speculated the current champion had that little bit of an edge over his once-coach.
Khabib Nurmagomedov receives massive praise
However, according to the trio’s head coach, Mendez, Nurmagomedov is far away ahead of the chasing pack as the most “dangerous’ fighter to ever compete in combat sports, in his opinion.
“Okay, he’s (Islam Makhachev) more skilled [than Khabib Nurmagomedov] in multiple areas,” Javier Mendez told MMA Mania. “More dangerous? Nobody’s more dangerous, in my opinion, in the world, than Khabib. No one, I don’t care. I haven’t seen one that’s more dangerous than Khabib.”
“In the sense of danger, meaning, you can’t do nothing to him,” Mendez explained. “You can’t do nothing to him. Khabib’s the most dangerous in my opinion, because first of all – in my opinion, and this is my opinion – and I’m being biased ‘cause I love him to death: He’s got the hardest chin I’ve seen on anybody. He’s been hit – he’s been hit, the only person that’s rocked him a little bit, a tiny bit, was Michael Johnson. Michael Johnson hit him with one hell of a shot, and other than that, no one else has hit him with anything. …He steamrolls everybody.”
In terms of a return for the above-mentioned, Makhachev, the Russian has been heavily linked with a title defense against former interim champion, Dustin Poirier as soon as June in his return to the Octagon.
Do you agree with Javier Mendez’s claims about Khabib Nurmagomedov?