“When Khabib’s on Top of You, He’s Like Breaking Me” – Teammate Tells Joe Rogan Stark Difference Between Islam Makhachev & Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Training Techniques

Belal Muhammad is on a roll in the UFC with having a 4 fights winning streak and coming out of a spectacular knockout finish against Sean Brady. The Chicago native is certainly doing every bit possible to back up his moniker, ‘Remember The Name’. Recently, Muhammad appeared on ‘The Joe Rogan Experience’, which he calls to be his ‘dream come true’ moment. Right off the bat, the 34-year-old and the UFC commentator dived into the discussion of the fighters and the fights themselves.

Speaking of which, the conversation then switched toward Khabib Nurmagomedov and the team. The two talked about the Dagestani dominance in the sport and, consequently, Muhammad recalled a story about when he was ‘disrespected’ by Nurmagomedov when they were training together. Although he also talked about how nothing can compare to what it’s like to train with ‘The Eagle’ and his team. However, when on the mats, Nurmagomedov isn’t very nice.

Khabib Nurmagomedov laughed off Belal Muhammad

In a now-deleted episode #134 of the JRE MMA Show, the rank 4 welterweight stalwart talked about the quintessential distinction between training with Khabib Nurmagomedov, and his protégé Islam Makhachev. Muhammad stated that in comparison to Nurmagomedov, he finds Makhachev to be ‘nicer’. “Islam is nice. He’ll tell you what you need to do and you need to do this way. And, he’ll show me the technique with it. When Khabib’s on top of you, he’s like breaking me at every single point… and he’s like, ‘No brother. You just got to keep going.’, said the 34-year-old.

Belal Muhammad then talked about how one time during it’s never easy with training with ‘The Eagle’. He cited one particular incident to bolster his claim when he failed to match up with ‘The Eagle’ on the mats and the latter laughed him off for that. The 34-year-old told Joe Rogan, “He’s just like laughing as he’s talking to the guys outside of the cage… And I’m feeling like, disrespected. But like, this is the Khabib.”

Read more: Belal Muhammad Details How Khabib Nurmagomedov’s Philosophy on Fighting Helped Him Secure a Win Against Heavy Hitter Vicente Luque

Having said that, Belal Muhammad maintains the fact that nothing compares to training with these Dagestani fighters. The 34-year-old cited his own example of failing to keep up with them.

Training with Dagestanis is no joke

Every UFC fan is aware of the Russian dominance in the UFC. It all started with Khabib Nurmagomedov and then followed a whole clan of Dagestani beasts who pummeled every foe in their path. And Muhammad feels every fighter should experience at least once what’s it like to train with these guys.

The Chicago native said, “I tell people. I’m like, if you never train with the guys from Dagestan or somebody from their team, you don’t know what it feels like. It’s not regular Jiu-Jtsu. It’s like, quicksand where you are there, you think you are moving and looking for a way out. You know, I’m really good at flow-rolling and everything… I cannot move with these guys”

It is undoubtedly a difficult journey to reach the level where Team Khabib is today. They mean business.

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