"It requires using deep throat muscles" - Laura Sanko makes surprise revelation about struggling with UFC star Shavkat Rakhmonov's language Kazakh

Laura Sanko recently opened up about the difficulties she's facing in her attempts to learn Kazakh, the native tongue of UFC welterweight Shavkat Rakhmonov. Although it has been challenging, Sanko says she enjoys learning new things.

Sanko has long been an admirer of Rakhmonov's skills. In an interview with Schrodinger’s Sport last year, Sanko opened up about learning the language. The UFC commentator emphasized the challenging vocabulary and that most struggle to pronounce Kazakh words.

“It’s difficult. You would laugh if you saw me. I sit in my hotel room, watch YouTube videos, and try to repeat after them. When I think I’ve succeeded, I send an audio file to Sayat Abdrakhmanov, Shavkat Rakhmonov’s manager, asking him to check. Then he translates my phrases into Kazakh, and I listen to them slowly, over and over.''

Sanko added:

''I learned that ‘sәlemetsiz be’ means ‘hello.’ I picked that up through YouTube. I wanted to prepare for a simple conversation, but I’m far from that. Kazakh is very difficult for Americans. It requires using deep throat muscles, while English relies on more frontal sounds. It’s hard for us to get it right.'' [H/t: The Times of Central Asia]

Check out the full interview below:

Rakhmonov was scheduled to face Belal Muhammad for the welterweight title at UFC 310. However, Muhammad withdrew due to a foot injury, forcing another unbeaten contender, Ian Machado Garry, to step in on short notice. Garry fought hard, but in the end, Rakhmonov prevailed by unanimous decision. 'Nomad' is expected to compete for UFC gold this year.

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When Laura Sanko explained her admiration for Shavkat Rakhmonov

Laura Sanko stated in an episode of the One On One podcast last year that she recognized potential in Shavkat Rakhmonov and was impressed by his early UFC outings. In relation to her well-known "gave me chills" remark, she said that Rakhmonov's fighting style and intriguing demeanor made her a huge fan.

''That's why I wanted to make a big deal out of him and be very big in how I spoke about him... And when I said, 'He gave me chil,' he does give me chills... There's something very primal about the way that he fights... The way that he operates and then when you couple that with the fact he doesn't talk and he doesn't speak a lick of English, there's a mystery there and it's just really cool."

Check out Laura Sanko's comments below (6:26):