Chael Sonnen heavily criticizes Sambo as a fighting art, and at the same time refuses to associate Khabib Nurmagomedov with the sport.
As a fighter born and raised in Dagestan, Russia, Khabib Nurmagomedov has embedded the art of Sambo into his fighting style. It is the art that led him to professional mixed martial arts competition in 2008, under the guidance of his father Abdulmanap.
While Sambo is one of the fighting forms that is generally held in high regard, fighters like Chael Sonnen refuse to do so.
“Sambo sucks,” Sonnen said in a recent video. “Sambo’s always sucked. And I don’t believe Khabib is a Sambo player. I think somewhere, he just wanted to pay respects to Sambo. I believe he got the skills that he got being Dagestani, and I believe he got them in a wrestling room.”
“In the history of them setting up that cage, there’s never been a contender, let alone a standout, that was good at Sambo,” he continued. “It sucks, it’s not real. It’s a fake sport.”
While Sonnen did recognize Fedor Emelianenko and Oleg Taktarov as notable Sambo fighters, “The American Gangster” still went on to lambast the Russian fighting art, while continuously disassociating Khabib from it.
“I’m actually now taking joy in the fact that I know I’m going to offend a bunch of people,” Sonnen said. “Let those crybabies cry. Sambo sucks. But Khabib doesn’t suck, he just pretends he does Sambo.”
Khabib is slated to face Tony Ferguson for the UFC lightweight title at UFC 223 on April 7th in Brooklyn, New York.