"I would like to buy a helicopter": Nurmagomedov on luxury, meeting Ronaldo and the scale of his popularity

"I wanted to ask Cristiano a couple of questions"

On the eve of the fight with Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 in Abu Dhabi, Russian fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov spoke about his childhood, which he spent in the Dagestan village of Kirovaul, and his first steps in sports.

The family of the future fighter moved there from Sildi.

“My father was the director of a state farm.

By the way, he has a higher education, he graduated from Poltava University with honors.

Although many considered him exclusively a coach, for me he was primarily a mentor, a person who knew how to think.

At first, my father trained in the common room, then he opened a gym at home, where I began to practice martial arts.

When I was 12-13 years old, we moved to Makhachkala, but we always return to Kirovaul, "Nurmagomedov said in an interview with UFC Russia.

Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov passed away in July this year, which was a great shock for the whole world of MMA.

However, the UFC lightweight champion intends to continue his father's endeavors.

In the near future, he plans to expand the sports school and build a new gym, since, according to him, the number of people willing to practice martial arts in his father's hall reaches 200-300 people.

“Of course, not everyone has the potential.

According to statistics, out of 70 people, only five or six achieve results.

First of all, this requires desire, and then discipline.

It is good that there is such a hall in Dagestan, but such conditions appeared a year and a half ago.

Previously, we only had mats and a pear, and there was one shower room for 50-70 people, ”the athlete explained.

At the same time, Nurmagomedov noted that it is more comfortable for him to prepare for fights in the American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), since there he can concentrate on training.

In Dagestan, there is too much fuss and often other issues have to be resolved.

It also affects the fact that the fighter is very popular in his homeland.

He admitted that at the beginning of his journey he could not imagine what scale it will reach.

“Then there were no social networks that make a person popular.

If before you were approached only for an autograph, now they ask you to take a picture and say hello.

For the stars, life has become harder.

I remember how Fedor Emelianenko came to the Dagestan Open Championship in 2004.

At that time, he had just won the Pride Heavyweight Championship.

Of course, I knew him, but most people had no idea who he was, ”Nurmagomedov explained.

The athlete himself has idols.

According to him, he wanted to meet with Mohammed Ali and he even had such an opportunity.

However, at that time, the legendary boxer was already sick and Nurmagomedov chose not to bother him.

Of the active athletes, he communicates closely with football players Zlatan Ibrahimovch, Karim Benzema and Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I really wanted to get to know Cristiano, ask him a couple of questions.

For example, how for 17 years it retains fire in itself and remains competitive.

After all, Ronaldo has been in sight since 2003 and at the end of each season gets into the top ten.

As I understand it, the matter is in internal energy, desire, motivation, discipline.

In the aggregate of these qualities, "- said the fighter.

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Posted by Cristiano Ronaldo (@cristiano) 11 Feb 2018 at 2:48 PST

It is interesting that for Nurmagomedov football, and not at all MMA, is the number one sport.

He closely follows many tournaments, constantly watches matches and knows the history of teams and individual players well.

“I like it even more than mixed martial arts.

As a child, I wanted to become a football player.

After all, in football you don't need to beat and break anyone.

You go out on the field and show your professional skills.

Although this is also a very difficult sport.

I never get tired of watching matches.

But the battles over time became less interesting to watch, ”he said.

As for other advantages of popularity, Nurmagomedov tries not to over-indulge himself.

The only luxury item he would like to buy is a helicopter.

“I would like to buy a helicopter to fly to our mountain village, where we are building a second base.

Because it takes four hours to get there by car.

And so - sat down, spent a couple of days there, came back.

As for the smaller whims, I can go to the store and get dressed.

It gives me pleasure.

I'm not a shopaholic, but I like looking good, ”Nurmagomedov admitted.

"I'll leave as soon as I feel it's time"

In 2014, Nurmagomedov was injured and had to recover for two years.

According to him, at that time he had thoughts about ending his career.

To get rid of them, the fighter had to train harder.

Therefore, after a forced pause, he not only did not slow down, but also returned stronger.

“This is from my father.

He also trained constantly.

Friends said wherever he went, he always had a bag with him.

First of all, he looked for where to spend the night, and then - a hall.

It is also important for me to constantly practice.

A stop in development may end badly for me, ”Khabib is sure.

From Abdulmanap, the athlete expects to adopt not only the attitude to training, but also the method of raising children.

According to him, Nurmagomedov Sr. put conviction first, personal example second, and encouragement third.

Demand and coercion followed.

“Sometimes I joked:“ Why did you start right away from the fifth point? ”.

Although I personally liked the promotion more.

He simply did not give anything, he had to earn a good grade at school or help around the house.

From this point of view, I would like to be like him, because children must be brought up correctly.

Honestly, I myself have not yet realized what kind of father I am.

But I would like to be strict.

As a rule, the child achieves better results with such parents, ”Nurmagomedov said.

Many were surprised that after the injury, the fighter began to speak better English.

According to him, then he realized that mixed martial arts are not limited to fights in the octagon.

“I don’t want to be looked at as a person who cannot connect two words.

On rehabilitation in Las Vegas, I was alone for some time and began to learn English myself.

Now I have the baggage to give interviews, but I need to improve my grammar.

I myself liked that I spoke, ”Khabib recalled.

According to rumors coming from Nurmagomedov's entourage, the fight with Gatji will be the penultimate for him in his career.

However, the champion is in no hurry to make such statements.

“A person is gradually wasting his psychological resource and can no longer find motivation.

The fire of rivalry is still burning in me, I want to compete, compete with the leading fighters of the world, to prove that I am the best at the moment.

In addition, you need to feed yourself, because you are constantly giving away some of the energy, which can be difficult to replenish.

But everything is in the head.

If you allow yourself to relax, the brain will not give a command to the body, the body.

And the body can handle anything.

I will leave as soon as I feel that it's time, ”concluded Nurmagomedov.