UFC Newcomer Gives A Surprising Verdict On Khabib Nurmagomedov And Dagestani Style Of Wrestling

UFC newcomer delivers a surprising verdict on Khabib Nurmagomedov and weighs in on the dominance of Dagestani wrestling style

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a UFC legend in every aspect. Coming into the promotion, Nurmagomedov brought in some radical changes in the fight dynamics. He introduced the Dagestani style of wrestling that earned him both success and fame of the highest level. After his retirement, Nurmagomedov started to preach the wrestling form to other athletes like Islam Makhachev, who too, climbed up the UFC ladder. But now, a UFC newcomer, Aaron Pico, has given a harsh reality check on the same.

Aaron Pico has joined Dana White’s promotion recently. During an appearance on the ‘Pound 4 Pound with Kamaru & Henry’ podcast, Pico dropped some interesting points. Pico pointed out that he had previously wrestled with top level athletes belonging from Chechnya and Dagestan. Thus, according to his analysis, both Khabib and Islam do not belong to the top of the table.

“Islam and Khabib are great wrestlers. They really are in MMA wrestling. But people don’t realize that where they come from, they’re not at the highest level at all. … They’re, maybe, not even in the top 30 and top 50,” said Pico.

Pico further continued saying that he spent time in Sochi with Olympic-level wrestlers. And they had much more quality than Nurmagomedov or Makhachev. Ending his statement, the UFC newcomer also challenged the duo to accept a fight and put his own theory to the test. Meanwhile, with a probable title fight coming in, Islam Makhachev’s coach recently weighed in on the impact of Khabib’s absence from Makhachev’s corner.

Javier Mendez Details How Much Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Absence Has Affected Islam Makhachev

Khabib Nurmagomedov shares a surprising update after his in-flight fiasco, offering insights into what happened and the aftermath

Khabib Nurmagomedov

Khabib Nurmagomedov has been a driving force behind the meteoric rise of Islam Makhachev. Makhachev, who has been the lightweight champion for quite some time now, had Nurmagomedov stand in his corner. But now, Khabib’s absence from his corner seems to be affecting his fighting significantly. Shedding light on the topic, coach Javier Mendez cited the example of Islam Makhachev vs. Alexander Volkanovski fight.

“It’s safe to say it affected him a little bit, I would say yes 100%. Having him in the corner the second time around, it was a huge plus,” said Mendez.

Thus, with the situation looking quite interesting with new callouts, it remains to be seen what happens next.