"Islam himself fought without Khabib" - UFC insider shares eye-opening take on Khabib Nurmagomedov's aversion to being a coach

A UFC insider recently gave his opinion on why Islam Makhachev had to fight without Khabib Nurmagomedov by his side on a few occasions.

Makhachev is currently training for his upcoming encounter against Arman Tsarukyan at UFC 311 with the help of his coach Nurmagomedov. But surprisingly, the former UFC flyweight champ, Demetrious Johnson, also joined their camp. After one of their sessions, Johnson questioned Nurmagomedov whether he liked the responsibility of coaching or not.

Nurmagomedov didn't shy away from voicing his disdain towards coaching nonchalantly. He also mentioned that he doesn't it like because of the stress associated with it.

Check out Nurmagomedov's answer to Johnson's question below:

The UFC insider and former title challenger, Chael Sonnen, broke down Nurmagomedov's take in his latest YouTube video. He mentioned that Nurmagomedov stayed absent from a few of Makhachev's non-title fights, but returned to coach him for his championship bouts.

"When he [Nurmagomedov] retired, he was going to see it through for Islam [Makhachev], but only Islam. That is the way that I understood this... [But] Islam himself even fought without Khabib, but when the title fight came, then Khabib came back."

Check out Chael Sonnen's comments below (02:00):

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Islam Makhachev's next fight will be a taxing one for Khabib Nurmagomedov

Islam Makhachev will take to the octagon for his next fight at UFC 311. The first UFC pay-per-view of 2025 is scheduled for Jan. 18 and the videos from Makhachev's training camp indicate that Nurmagomedov will be there in his corner for his fight.

But 'The Eagle' will have to go through even more stress on the same night. His cousin, Umar Nurmagomedov, will clash against the current champ, Merab Dvalishvili in the bantamweight title fight in the co-main event.