Khabib Nurmagomedov’s domination in the UFC’s lightweight division has been nothing short of astonishing. The way that he mauls his opponents makes it difficult to see how anyone in the lightweight division could cause him any trouble in grappling altercations.
Throughout his mixed martial arts career, Khabib’s high-level Sambo style has been incredibly effective and dominant, but Chael Sonnen believes that the art of Sambo isn’t an effective martial art, claiming that it is a fake sport. He has credited Khabib’s skills and dominance to his Dagestani heritage and his time in the wrestling room. He claims that Khabib is a wrestler, not a Sambo player and that he is only crediting Sambo to pay his respects to the sport.
“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.”
“IT SUCKS, IT’S NOT REAL. IT’S A FAKE SPORT.”
Sonnen understands that these claims are going to cause a huge disruption in the Sambo community, but Chael Sonnen has never been one to hold back and bite his tongue.
“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.”
It will be interesting to see how Khabib Nurmagomedov replies to these accusations, but these claims come only 2 weeks before he takes on Tony Ferguson for the UFC lightweight championship, so he may wait until after his bout to respond.
Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov takes place on April 7, 2018, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
What do you think about Chael Sonnen’s comments, is Khabib a wrestler or a Sambo player?
