Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the best lightweights in the world. In October 2020, he retired as an undefeated fighter with a record of 29-0-0. Khabib has had a beautiful relationship with his former coach, Javier Mendez. After his father passed away, Javier Mendez acted like a father figure to ‘The Eagle’.
When Khabib came to the USA, Coach Javier Mendez took him under his wing. In one of his interviews, ‘The Eagle’ went on to discuss a hilarious story when he started to train at AKA with head coach Javier. When the interviewer asked Khabib if he fights better when he is angry or when he is at peace, Khabib had a great response.
“You have to be relaxed, my coach Javier Mendez taught me these kinds of things,” said Khabib. Furthermore, he recalls the time when he sparred for the first time at AKA. Nurmagomedov said that when he came to America, his English was zero, and when Mendez asked him to relax, he took it in a very different way.
“I’m like the word relax sounds like I have to push hard and all this time this guy was like, hey you’ll have to listen to me relax,” recalls Khabib. However, Khabib went even harder with his sparring. Then, after one year, when Khabib found out the meaning of the word relax, he discussed the incident with Javier Mendez.
“I told him, coach I’m sorry about that because I was thinking relax means to push hard and he said no way,” said Nurmagomedov. It can be seen that miscommunication can lead to different turns of events.
Javier Mendez reveals details about Khabib Nurmagomedov’s generosity towards his teammates
In a recent interview, Javier Mendez claimed that Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the most generous people, and he has changed a lot of his teammates’ lives for the better. According to Mendez, ‘The Eagle’ paid for the flight of up to fifty members of Islam Makhachev’s team for UFC 294.
Furthermore, Javier Mendez talked about one of his students who was very inspired by Khabib. “One day I see this guy wiping the floor in my gym. I asked him why he was doing that and he replied by saying that he wanted the gym to be clean because he loves Khabib and his team,” said Mendez.
This incident touched the AKA head coach, and he let that guy stay in the gym. Furthermore, he revealed that Khabib used to pay for this guy’s flights, hotels, and even his tournament tickets. ‘The Eagle’ also signed some rare cards with other UFC fighters worth thousands of dollars for this guy.
What do you think about the relationship between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Javier Mendez? Let us know in the comments below.