Shortly after his latest corner assignment in Abu Dhabi last Saturday, Khabib Nurmagomedov received some kind words from a figure that has been on record as a big fan of his.
The former US President Donald Trump has always been tied to the sport of MMA to some degree and just like any fight fan, he has his favorites.
Trump has mentioned the former lightweight champion in the past and even posted on social media about it, after meeting him whilst in attendance at UFC 302.
During a recent stream alongside Adin Ross, he said that “The Eagle” is number one on his own personal list.
Nurmagomedov’s long-time coach turned fellow corner Javier Mendez gave his reaction to this in a recent interview with Red Corner MMA.
“No I haven’t seen it and I’m not surprised, Donald Trump has spoken always highly about Khabib and what a great fighter he thinks and also, Donald Trump from the very beginning back when the UFC just started and they would get into the Trump Towers, their hotels and Donald Trump was one of the few people that took a chance on them back in the day. So, Donald Trump’s an MMA fan so not surprising that he would choose ‘The Eagle’ because we all choose ‘The Eagle’, I choose ‘The Eagle’.”
Javier Mendez On Why The UFC Decided To Release New Conor McGregor & Khabib Nurmagomedov Footage
On July 15, the UFC released the latest episode of their “UFC Muted” series on YouTube which strips away the commentary so you can hear audio from fights that wasn’t possible before.
The subject of this particular instalment was sure to bring attention due to it being no-commentary clips of the biggest fight in UFC history, Conor McGregor vs “The Eagle”.
Mendez was asked to give his thoughts on why the UFC decided to release this footage at this time in particular.
He explained how in his opinion, this was done to keep Nurmagomedov in the spotlight ahead of his return to the corner this past weekend, where he helped his cousin Umar Nurmagomedov to stay undefeated against Cory Sandhagen in the main event.
He said that the promotion knows what they’re doing and if they can’t have the former champion back inside the Octagon, they’ll look to make the most out of his star quality in other ways.
“I believe the UFC’s genius at what they do. I believe they’re building the ‘young eagle’ situation because Khabib was in the corner and they showed the corner. Why would you show the corners if you’re not trying to build that as a corner. So no, UFC, they go with the algorithm, they know what they’re doing and I believe that’s what they’re doing. They’re building up Khabib as the next great coach and he is. He’s on track to being the next great coach if not the greatest coach. So I believe the UFC is playing that narrative because that’s a smart move on their part.”
