Even after retiring from the sport, Khabib Nurmagomedov remains an integral part of Dagestani fighting teams. His presence in the training camp commands both respect and fear among his pupils. The 29-0 former UFC lightweight champion’s training regimen is so intense that the current lightweight champion, Islam Makhachev, even begged Daniel Cormier to visit the camp and intervene for fear of Khabib going overboard. Well, it looks like Cormier has not obliged Makhachev’s request as a recent video by the lightweight champion suggests ‘The Eagle’ is not happy with the training.

His first order of business on UFC 311 would be to ensure Tagir Ulanbekov finds victory against Clayton Carpenter on the first night of the evening. His next two tasks come in high-profile title fights in the main card, with Umar Nurmagomedov against current bantamweight champion Merab Dvalishvili in the co-main event, and lightweight king Islam Makhachev against the formidable Arman Tsarukyan in the event’s headliner. It’s safe to assume that he feels responsible for their successes as a coach, and the pressure on him is immense.

Recently, Islam Makhachev playfully tried to have a candid conversation with Khabib Nurmagomedov. Makhachev started the video by giving us an update on his training, “This week we worked hard the result is obvious. Let’s ask the coach. Khabib how did the guys perform.” The lightweight champion shifted the camera in Khabib Nurmagomedov’s direction to ask the aforementioned question, to which, ‘The Eagle’ gave them a rating of four.

Islam Makhachev was both terrified and curious as the rating was unexpectedly low. In a voice that reflected slight fear, the lightweight champion asked the coach, “What should we do to go to 5?” Khabib Nurmagomedov retorted by stating that he took a rest on a workday, “Brother, you rested on Wednesday evening.” Makhachev was dumbfounded, asking if taking that rest day was not allowed, to which Nurmagomedov responded, “Of course not, we rest on Sunday and Saturday evenings.” In the end, it looked like Makhachev got the message as he stated, “Got it, we won’t rest anymore.”

As we inch closer to fight day, we can safely assume that Khabib Nurmagomedov will put his UFC 311 fighters through the gauntlet. Team Khabib will leave no stone unturned in training, especially for Islam Makhachev who will be going up against a hungry and motivated former opponent. But what are the chances of Islam Makhachev winning the contest?

50-50 chance of winning for Islam Makhachev according to rising UFC star

Arman Tsarukyan confessed that he had a secret weapon to take down Islam Makhcahev, however, he refused to give any further reasoning about it. Well, a motivated challenger for sure brings problems for the defender but when you are Makhachev, things are a bit different as Alexander Volkanovski and Dustin Poirier found out, first-hand. While having a conversation with UFC veteran Yoel Romero via the Overdogs Espanol Podcast, Esteban Ribovics tipped his hat to Tsarukyan but gave both fighters an equal chance of winning the bout.

“Islam Makhachev’s fighting in January against another possible [future] champion, Arman Tsarukyan – wow… They already fought once before, Islam won, it was a scramble and wrestling war – and I think it is going to be like that again [at UFC 311]. I think Tsarukyan has a chance of being a champion, but it’s 50-50 for me. 50-50 for either of them,” said Ribovics.

He further added, “He hasn’t been a champion yet, [he has] the hunger – the other guy already won the title, already defended it, but this guy has already fought him and he’s hungry, he wants to be [UFC] champion – that’s his strong advantage [over Makhachev]. Islam won [the first fight] by decision, just pure wrestling; move in and out, take the back [and] circle – it was a crazy fight, but his [Arman’s] strength [in the rematch] is that he wants to be champion, in my opinion.” 

Arman Tsarukyan recently coached Hype Reality 3 (part of Hype Fighting Championship) – a Russian reality TV show similar to TUF – opposite Khamzat Chimaev and both were seen engaging in a wrestling bout where ‘Borz’ was the clear winner. This could provide a glimpse into what Makhachev’s wrestling could look like against Tsarukyan, but Chimaev is much bigger and heavier than Makhachev, so it’s difficult to draw an accurate comparison.

Regardless, we can expect an absolute barn burner at UFC 311 between the champion and challenger. What do you think? Who will walk out of the headliner as the champion – Islam Makhachev or Arman Tsarukyan? Let us know in the comments down below.