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MOSCOW, RUSSIA FEBRUARY 9, 2021: MMA fighter, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov attends EFC 33 Eagle Fighting Championship at Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images)

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MOSCOW, RUSSIA FEBRUARY 9, 2021: MMA fighter, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov attends EFC 33 Eagle Fighting Championship at Irina Viner-Usmanova Gymnastics Palace. Valery Sharifulin/TASS (Photo by Valery SharifulinTASS via Getty Images)
Khabib Nurmagomedov was at the Bellator’s event, Bellator 273: Bader vs. Moldavsky, cornering his teammate Islam Mamedov. During the fight, Mamedov’s opponent Benson Henderson caught him in a devastating guillotine.
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Nurmagomedov in the corner looked very concerned for his fighter. Though the choke was deep, Mamedov escaped. Henderson had a good grip, but he was in the half guard position with the cage behind his back. Throughout the choke, Mamedov stayed calm and fought the hands, and pulled his neck back as he found a little opening.
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The Eagle was closely watching the action on the monitor. As Mamedov pulled his neck out, he found himself in half guard position. Besides, Mamedov looked to take Henderson’s back. As soon as he got out of the choke, Nurmagomedov abruptly change his emotions and started cheering for his teammate and giving him instructions. Here’s the tweet from Bloody Elbow showing the entire sequence.
Khabib and Usman Nurmagomedov reaction to Islam Mamedov escaping the submission attempt from Benson Henderson ..
unfortunately, islam still lost a split decision in a very close fight pic.twitter.com/PD4C3eN8o0— Pablo_Escobar (@JM97_79) January 30, 2022
The concern on Nurmagomedov’s face shows he respected Henderson’s ground game. Henderson always had a great Jitsu game, offensively and defensively. Besides, he is a great wrestler too.
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Khabib Nurmagomedov got his first loss as a coach
Benson Henderson got the split decision win over Islam Mamedov in the co-main of Bellator 273. Thus giving Khabib Nurmagomedov the first loss of his coaching career.
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LAS VEGAS, NEVADA – JULY 05: UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia speaks to the media during the UFC seasonal press conference at T-Mobile Arena on July 5, 2019 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)
After his retirement, Nurmagomedov, just like his father, has contributed to his team as a coach. He was cornering his fighters to great success, but the loss was imminent. At some point, one of his fighters had to lose, but it came at a huge platform with an enormous opportunity on the table.
This was the last fight of Henderson’s Bellator contract. And with the win, he is open to going into free agency with momentum on his side. Though for Mamedov, it was an opportunity to take Henderson’s shine and build a name for himself.
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Henderson, in the post-fight press conference, showed interest in fighting for the Nurmagomedov’s Eagle FC.
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Do you think Benson Henderson will sign with Eagle FC? How would you rate Khabib Nurmagomedov as a coach? Will Islam Mamedov become Bellator champion in 2022? Let us know in the comment section.
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