"If you don't go to military, you go to jail" - Khabib Nurmagomedov opens up on father Abdulmanap's coaching legacy and following his footsteps

Khabib Nurmagomedov recently opened up about his father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov's coaching legacy and how his childhood molded him. The former UFC lightweight champion also spoke about relating to his father's experience after becoming a coach himself.

In an interview with Brett Okamoto for ESPN MMA, Nurmagomedov was asked if the region of Dagestan had anything to do with how good his father was at grappling and MMA. Nurmagomedov replied:

"No, no. It was exactly his experience. The way how he learned all this life. Till 18, he was living in village... He was learning only freestyle. Then, he go to military. When you're 18 and USSR come, if you don't go to [the] military, you go to jail... Two years he was in the military, he learned how to wrestle Judo. Then, he comes back and moved to Ukraine. There he learnt Sambo, Judo... He had very, very old-school coaches."

Nurmagomedov also spoke about relating to his father's experience as a coach and understanding the hardships he faced. He continued:

"When I became a coach, I understood how my father felt... This is a very, very big responsibility. The way you train, sometimes you have to give guys rest, sometimes you have to push them... You have to stay balanced... Now I understand him."

Catch Khabib Nurmagomedov's comments below (14:23):

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Khabib Nurmagomedov addresses recent airplane removal incident

Khabib Nurmagomedov was recently forced to leave an aircraft after a verbal disagreement with the airplane staff. The UFC icon was aboard a Frontier Airlines flight from Las Vegas to San Francisco when an attendant came to explain the rules regarding passengers sitting in the emergency-exit row. The interaction seemingly took a sour turn, and Nurmagomedov was forced off the plane.

In an X post, the ex-UFC champion addressed the incident and slammed the airline staff for being rude. He wrote:

"First of all, I need to clarify that it was @FlyFrontier [and] not AlaskaAir. Lady who comes to me with questions was very rude from the very beginning, even though I speak very decent English and can understand everything and agreed to assist, she still insists on removing me from my seat. What was the base for that, racial, national or other one, I'm not sure... But after 2 minutes of conversation, she called security, and I was deplaned from this aircraft; after 1.5 hours, I boarded another airline and left for my destination. I did my best to stay calm and respectful, as you can see in the video."