Islam Makhachev has revealed UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a tougher coach than his late father during his UFC 280 preparations.
The Russian star will take to the octagon this weekend against Charles Oliveira in Abu Dhabi looking to become UFC lightweight champion for the first time. Makhachev has emerged as one of the promotion's brightest stars and has shown shades of his mentor Nurmagomedov who retired as an undefeated champion in 2020.
The UFC legend has been an integral part of Makhachev's preparations and will be in his protege's corner instructing him for the huge title tilt. And the challenger has revealed he has become angered with Nurmagomedov being less involved with the physical side of training camp since hanging up his gloves.
"Sometimes, I am angry because he's not training now and is still pushing us so hard," Makhachev told BT Sport when addressing his relationship with Nurmagomedov. "I told the other coach 'Hey, this guy not control' because if we did sparring or wrestling - I remember when we're training we did sparring, grappling, wrestling and then finished [the training]. But always he has some exercise for us after this training.
"I think so [tougher coach than his late father Abdulmanap] because he doesn't have too much experience being a coach, but he pushes us so hard. For example, this camp, just this week I have been light training but all other months, it has been so hard." Makhachev previously worked with Nurmagomedov's late father Abdulmanap with the pair regularly seen training and wrestling.
However Nurmagomedov has stepped into the mantle since his father's passing and has been present throughout Makhachev's training camp alongside social media star Hasbulla. Makhachev has yet to lose a fight since signing with the UFC and has shown his dominance on the ground which has made him an impossible target to overcome so far.
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Oliveira poses by far the toughest examination of his career particularly given the fact he holds the record for the most submissions in UFC history. Nurmagomedov has been dragged into the war of words with the Brazilian during the build-up to the fight, and has made a confident prediction that Oliveira will be no match for his friend.
"First of all, his skills. I think Islam is more skilled than Oliveira," he told UFC Russia. "Secondly, his experience as an amateur fighter and he's at his peak, Islam isn't 23 or 26, he's 30 and a week after the fight he will be 31. It's the best time for any athlete. It's a time where your mental and physical state should be in synergy.
"Sometimes your mental state is high but your physical state goes down, or when you're 26 at your physical peak you're mentally not there yet. I think Islam is better overall, of course there are some dangers that we are working on where Islam needs to be careful. Other than that, Islam should roll over him."
