The Russian professional Mixed Martial Artist Khabib Nurmagomedov is loved and praised by many people in the world for his exceptional fighting skills. Khabib is originally from a small town called Sildi in Dagestan, Russia. The town is located in Dagestan and is a completely rural village with tough living conditions surrounded by beautiful mountains.
The former UFC champion had an incredible career as an MMA fighter. He holds the record for never losing a fight in his career. Moreover, he never even drew a fight in his career, he fought 29 times and won all 29 times which is an incredible feat to achieve. The fact that he fought the likes of Conor Mcgregor and Dustin Poirier makes his feat even more insane.
Khabib has been one of the pioneers of Dagestani MMA, with the likes of Islam Makhachev, Said Nurmagomedov, and Magomed Ankalaev just a few names who have followed in his footsteps. Recently Khabib was asked about the reason why many warriors are coming from Dagestan in the UFC.
He said, “I think genetics. I think mountains. I think tough life. And I think traditions. Our tradition is wrestling, everybody wrestle, you know, when I was growing up, sometimes I go with my father to some people’s house, and if I see someone my age, my size and I think Father gonna make me wrestle with him. Everybody in Dagestan wrestles because wrestling is like tradition.”
Being from Dagestan, Khabib knows the traditions and the significance of wrestling in Dagestan. Therefore, he was able to correctly explain the reason why people are so great at fighting from that particular place.
Khabib also rightly pointed out that the genes of the Dagestanians are very different and they belong to the mountains. In their lifetime, they face encounters of fighting with Bears as well which just makes them stronger and better fighters.
Who are the Dagestani superstars other than Khabib Nurmagomedov?
There have been incredible fighters that have come into the UFC from Dagestan. They have surprised people around the world through their incredible fighting techniques. ‘The Eagle’ has his own team of fighters who have been dominating the world of fighting for years now. Khabib’s understudy, Islam Makhachev currently holds the UFC lightweight championship and also has a record of 24-1, having lost only one fight in his career.
That said, the dominance of Dagestani fighters stretches far beyond the UFC. Usman Nurmagomedov, Khabib’s cousin, who also has a perfect record is the current Bellator Lightweight championship. But this isn’t even close to the end of the list. Islam Mamedov (22-2-1), Abubakar Nurmagomedov (17-3-1), Zubaira Tukhugov (20-5-1), and Umar Nurmagomedov (15-0) are some remaining names that are also on the list.
The combined fight record of team Khabib is absolutely bonkers 🤯 pic.twitter.com/EQ0EPHaYuL
— ESPN MMA (@espnmma) November 20, 2022
It is pretty clear that Dagestan keeps on producing incredible talents that are able to come and dominate not just in UFC but in the whole of the fighting world. The biggest example of this is Khabib himself who is the most dominant fighter the world has ever seen.