Pride Fighting Championships veteran Don Frye recently
lauded the Caucasian style of wrestling, and its torchbearer,
Khabib
Nurmagomedov.
Frye believes Nurmagomedov was unbeatable and could have continued
winning if he hadn’t retired. Frye thinks Nurmagomedov was never
inclined to return as he never faced adversity in his career.
Nurmagomedov was the torchbearer of a style of wrestling that
originated in Dagestan, Chechnya and other areas of the Caucasus
mountains. Champions like Islam
Makhachev, Khamzat
Chimaev and other elite grapplers are taking over the sport
with the same kind of grappling that is often criticized for not
being entertaining. However, Frye believes that, fan-friendly or
not, the Dagestani/Chechen style of wrestling is superior to every
other style in the sport today.
Bulletproof
“I think Khabib was everybody’s match,” Frye said in a recent
interview. “Nobody can beat that guy. He’s bulletproof,
10-foot-tall, bulletproof. [His wrestling] is phenomenal, nothing
you can take away from it. He hit his goal and he’s staying there,
he’s maintaining it. If he was to advance it a little, then he’d
come back. He has no desire to come back and you can’t blame him
because nobody ever challenged him… Whether you enjoy watching [the
Dagestani style] or not, too bad. It’s superior to every other
style out there.”
Nurmagomedov (29-0) retired as the undefeated UFC lightweight
champion in 2020 after defending his title thrice. He has since
devoted his time to helping his teammates like Makhachev, Usman
Nurmagomedov, Umar
Nurmagomedov and others.