Abubakar Nurmagomedov, the cousin of Octagon icon Khabib Nurmagomedov, gifted his coach Javier Mendez a well-thought-out piece of memorabilia to commemorate the legendary trainer’s success as both a fighter and a developer of world champions.
Abubakar, who has competed under both the PFL and UFC banners, recently presented Mendez with an engraved knife that was meant to pay tribute to Mendez’s successful combat sports career as well as his role in shaping some of the fight game’s biggest stars over the years.
Today I have a gift. I wouldn’t say it’s ‘Wow’ but I think he will like it. It’s a knife with Javier’s face, our coach, engraved on it. Abubakar Nurmagomedov said in a video on Khabib’s YouTube channel, which you can watch below.
Khabib’s Team Pays Tribue to Javier Mendez’s status as a legendary fighter and trainer
The knife itself had an image of Mendez engraved on it along with the ISKA world champion belt he won in the early 90s.
Nurmagomedov also had Mendez’s many champions engraved on it including Daniel Cormier, Cain Velasquez, and Luke Rockhold.
After his own illustrious career in combat sports came to a close, Mendez began his journey as a trainer, coaching a slew of superstars to fame, fortune, and world titles. Aside from the names mentioned above, Mendez has also worked with the likes of Frank Shamrock, BJ Penn, Cung Le, Josh Thomson, Islam Makhachev, and Usman Nurmagomedov.
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