Islam Makhachev once asked his former teammate, Daniel Cormier, to send his sons to Dagestan for 2-3 years to improve their wrestling skills. However, ‘DC’ did not take up that invitation from the former lightweight champion. Instead, it was the UFC that decided to send a team, not for 2-3 years, but for a couple of days, to explore his roots, ahead of his fight against Jack Della Maddalena at Madison Square Garden.

As a few of the UFC’s in-house production team members drove through the mountains of Dagestan with Islam Makhachev, the former champion touched upon an important topic. While discussing his and Khabib Nurmagomedov‘s upbringing, the welterweight title contender also revealed how his time growing up has influenced the way he and his mentor raise their children.

Islam Makhachev and Khabib’s parenting approaches

Islam Makhachev intends to raise his children by instilling in them the values that were passed on to him by his father and to his father by his grandfather. Claiming that the current generation of young kids is “glued to their phones,” Makhachev said, “[Raising kids is] very hard, yes… I’ll be just as strict with my kids as my father was with me,” in a YouTube video posted by the UFC.

Islam Makhachev mentioned how scientific studies claim corporal punishment is harmful to children and can have long-term mental effects. In fact, studies have concluded that this just creates a short-term compliance fear that often leads to impaired cognition and mental health problems in children.

Meanwhile, the former champ and Khabib were made to work hard by Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov and Makhachev’s own father. They went on to succeed and turned out to be good human beings. As such, Makhachev questions the legitimacy of these scientific claims.

“Nowadays, these psychologists say you shouldn’t yell at a kid. That you can’t slap them on the backside. They say it damages their psyche. Are Khabib and I psychologically damaged?” Islam Makhachev added, “Both our fathers were very strict. It’s the other way around,” highlighting the culture he was brought up in. You can see the same no-compromise and non-nonsense approach in the way Khabib runs his camps.

Islam Makhachev believes that athletes need to push themselves in every way they can instead of paying too much attention to the rewards that come with success. “Sure, life’s easier for me now, but if I start creating luxury around myself just because I’m a champion, it’ll get harder to train, harder to wake up early.” The former champion also put the young generation on blast for making certain demands that often prove detrimental to the local gyms.

Makhachev claims gyms in Dagestan remain closed if there’s a lack of ‘hot water’

Up there in the Caucasus Mountains, the temperature can get really cold. In the case of Dagestan, the coldest recorded temperature was -16.2 °F in 2012, so you can imagine how cold it really is in Islam Makhachev’s region. But despite the harsh weather, he and Khabib used to have no complaints when they didn’t have warm water to wash themselves. In comparison, Makhachev claims the young generation of fighters cannot comprehend making use of cold water.

“I’m actually glad I went through those tough years living on the base. Those memories are priceless. Nowadays, if there’s no hot water, some of the young guys refuse to train,” Islam Makhachev further stated. “That was never an excuse for us. If there’s no hot water, we wash in cold. In Makhachkala, some gyms even close if there’s no hot water.”

Islam Makhachev’s superior work ethic, which he encourages the young fighters to develop, has brought him to the top of the MMA world. So, no one can argue with the former champ on that front. He mentioned in the past how they used day-to-day objects to train and work out since they did not have much equipment.

Makhachev has surely come a long way and is just one step away from making history. Do you think he’ll become the second fighter after BJ Penn to become lightweight and welterweight champion? Drop your predictions for UFC 322 in the comments below.