Training with brothers, Cormier's forecast and the possible presence of fans: what are they talking about before the Nurmagomedov-Gatji fight

A little more than a week is left before the fight between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gajee at UFC 254.

The Russian fighter is currently in Dubai, where he is holding the final training camp with his teammates and American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) coach Javier Mendes.

But soon he will move to Abu Dhabi, where the fight itself will take place and will reach the finish line of the preparation stage, in particular, he will be engaged in the weight reduction procedure.

The current camp from the very beginning was noticeably different from those that Nurmagomedov spent in the last years of his career.

Of course, mainly due to the absence of Abdulmanap's father, who died in July 2020.

Until now, Khabib has invariably started training under his leadership in Dagestan, after which he moved to the AKA hall in the USA, where Mendes was closely involved with him.

Despite the death of his father, Nurmagomedov did not change himself and began training in Dagestan, but for the first time since 2012 he did without a flight to San Jose.

The Russian immediately went to Dubai, where he was reunited with his mentor.

“I trained hard in Dagestan for about a month and a half, then I moved here.

I spent almost 35 days in Dubai.

For the last 80 days I have been working very hard.

The camp turned out to be very good.

Javier and my entire team are here.

There are about 25-30 people in total.

Umar, Islam and I will have fights.

We train in the morning, rest all day, and train again at night.

We train, eat, sleep and all over again, ”Nurmagomedov told ESPN.

Judging by the words of Khabib, at the moment, training is still super-intense.

So, one of them included grappling, practicing hitting the paws, running for 30 minutes, riding an exercise bike and working with weights, as well as three seven-minute visits to the sauna.

The latter can be considered the beginning of the weighing process, the apogee of which will fall on the last days before weighing.

“After our five rounds, we closely monitor the youth and point out the shortcomings.

In general, the management is in place and controls the entire process.

A couple more days and heavy loads will be behind.

The most interesting week will begin, ”Nurmagomedov wrote on his official Instagram page.

Earlier, Khabib has repeatedly admitted that it is very difficult for him to play at the same tournament with representatives of his team.

He already passed a similar test a year ago - Islam Makhachev and Zubair Tukhugov were on the undercard of his fight with Dustin Poirier.

This time, the participation of the first of them is in question, and the place of the second was taken by the champion's double brother Umar.

At the same time, Usman and Abubakar Nurmagomedov are also in the camp.

The former recently signed with Bellator, while the latter is keeping fit and hoping to have a second fight in the UFC soon.

As can be inferred from the videos published on Nurmagomedov's official channel, the twin brothers play a significant role in his preparation for the duel with Gatji.

So, in one of the videos, fragments of the sparring of Khabib and Usman were shown, during which they practiced skills on the ground.

"Heavy.

I'm fighting a champion, not some street kid.

No resentment when you fail.

Everyone loses to him, ”Usman admitted.

The show with the participation of Nurmagomedov and Gaetji is already considered one of the main events of the year in mixed martial arts.

But according to the latest news, it could get even more special.

With luck, UFC 254 will be the first promotional event since the outbreak of the pandemic to allow fans to attend.

According to the organization, at the moment there is an active discussion of this issue.

“We're currently looking at how to invite fans to UFC 254. We are exploring how to separate fans from the fighters and staff inside the arena, while still providing them with safe access.

If all goes according to plan, we will announce it soon.

This has not yet been confirmed, but there is such a plan.

I am optimistic, but health and safety cannot be compromised.

This is our priority, ”BJPenn.com quoted UFC Middle East Marketing Director Rashid Al Said as quoted by BJPenn.com.

In the case of admission of fans to the stands, Nurmagomedov will have an even more serious advantage over Gatji.

In the UAE, the Russian is very popular, which was clearly noticeable during his battle with Poirier in September 2019.

Standing up from the stands will further help the champion, who, if successful, will double the record for most lightweight title defenses.

However, despite the perfect statistics and dominance in the UFC over the past eight and a half years, Nurmagomedov should hardly expect an easy walk in a duel with Gaji.

In any case, many experts from the world of mixed martial arts think so, including the former partner of the Russian in AKA Daniel Cormier.

“I think this is the toughest fight within the division (for Khabib. - 

).

In my opinion, Justin Gaethje is a real man.

He is called the "Human Highlight", the most impressive fighter in the UFC.

It's true.

And not only in the UFC, but in all martial arts.

In the sports world, there is no fighter more impressive than Justin Gaethje.

Boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts - you won't find anyone more impressive.

That Justin Gaethje, who fought with Tony Ferguson in May, is the most dangerous fighter Khabib has ever entered the Octagon with, ”Cormier said.

According to Daniel, the challenger has the requisite skill set to face the champion.

Nevertheless, he expressed the opinion that Khabib will hold another belt defense and extend his unbeaten streak in MMA.

“I don’t know if anyone will beat him.

I am sure that Khabib will leave the sport undefeated.

Nobody can beat this guy.

He's too serious about becoming who he needs to be for this to happen, ”concluded Cormier.

Despite the fact that Gatzhi is considered more than a formidable rival for Nurmagomedov, the world of martial arts is already thinking about the future opponent of the Russian.

So, bookmakers are seriously considering the possibility of a long-awaited duel between Khabib and Tony Ferguson, and the media are discussing his revenge with Conor McGregor.

Recently, Dana White himself stated that the fighters could become mentors of their teams in the new season of The Ultimate Fighter, but Eagle was not so inspired by this idea.

“For him, this show is a way to get as much attention as possible.

And I don't want to give him that opportunity.

This will not happen, even if the UFC offers me $ 5 billion. Even if they make me a co-owner of the UFC, I will not go for it.

Conor doesn't deserve everyone's attention.

He's done with.

I finished him on October 6th and closed all questions related to him.

After that I had new challenges - Poirier, Gatji.

We'll see who will be next, but I don't think it will be Conor, "admitted Nurmagomedov.

As for Ferguson, Nurmagomedov, it seems, no longer believes in the American's ability to return to the previous level.

According to him, he knew about the weaknesses of El Cucuy even before his battle with Gatji, and after it was over he realized that "Tony's time is gone."

“If he comes back, he will be beaten again.

When you get hurt like this, you will never be the same.

Even if you're Tony Ferguson.

This damage is too serious.

You saw how he refused to continue the fight in the fifth round.

Ferguson is a great fighter, but now he has a choice.

He can fly to the "Boytsovsky Island" and go out against Islam Makhachev.

He has a streak of six wins, he has a name.

Why not?

The UFC will offer him good money, Ali (Abdel-Aziz. - 

) will pay him $ 200 thousand. And after that he will have a good chance to fight for the title.

If he wins.

But I think that his time has passed, ”Nurmagomedov said.