Usman
Nurmagomedov is more than grateful for the guidance of his
cousin, Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
Advertisement
Usman looks to defend his lightweight title against Alexandr
Shabliy in the main event at
Bellator Champions Series on Sept. 7 at the Pechanga Arena in
San Diego, California. While Khabib had taken a short hiatus from
all things MMA last year, “The Eagle” has recently taken a more
active role in helping his teammates and relatives from Dagestan,
including the likes of Umar
Nurmagomedov and Islam
Makhachev.
Khabib is also helping the undefeated Bellator lightweight champ
for his upcoming title defense and will be cornering him as well.
Usman says the training environment is just different in Khabib’s
presence. According to Usman, Khabib’s knowledge of the sport is
second to none and it is a divine gift to have the UFC Hall of
Famer by his side.
“For us, this is gift from God,” Usman said during a recent
Bellator media call. “People like Khabib, this guy is like, you
cannot find like this guy like around you. This is so hard to find
some someone like Khabib. He support us so much, he’s helping. And
he know everything about MMA like nobody know. And when he in camp
this is different, like everything is different, you’re feeling
different. You like learning so much, you grow up yourself so much
and this is like I’m very thankful for God because of Khabib we
have.”
Shabliy is currently undefeated in five Bellator
outings and hasn’t lost overall since 2016. However, “Peresvet” is
just another name to add to the resume for Nurmagomedov.
“No, this is same thing like before guys,” Usman said. “It’s not
like something different. Same guy, who was lose before. And
nothing, nothing. Just [another] name and that’s it.”
Nurmagomedov also believes Shabliy’s primary weakness is mental and
expects him to give up once the fight goes into deep waters.
“I think his weakness is in his mind,” Usman said. “When time going
to come, when cage is going to close, when after two, three rounds,
he’s gonna be tired, he will give up, I think. But we’ll see.”