Who is Sazhid Sazhidov and how does former UFC champ Khabib Nurmagomedov know him?

Khabib Nurmagomedov's wrestling roots have paid dividends in his MMA career. Growing up under the tutelage of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Khabib was fortunate to have trained with some of the best grappling talents in Russia. One such person is the former Russian Olympian Sazhid Khalilrakhmanovich Sazhidov.

Sazhidov, the incumbent Minister of Physical Culture and Sports RD in Dagestan, formally coached 'The Eagle' during the latter's combat sambo days. The decorated 41-year-old wrestler represented Russia on several notable platforms, such as the FILA wrestling championships (2003 & 2006) and World Military Games (2007).

Perhaps Sazhidov's most significant feat came at the 2004 Athens Olympics, where he won a bronze medal in freestyle wrestling in the 84kg category. The Russian defeated former UFC middleweight contender Yoel Romero to place third in the tournament.

The grappling ace later took the position of head coach of the Dagestan wrestling team. As a coach, Sazhidov has mentored the likes of Abdulrashid Sadulaev (Olympic gold medalist), Nariman Israpilov (European Champion), and Abdusalam Gadisov (World Champion).

Khabib Nurmagomedov recently posted a picture with Sazhid Sazhidov on his Instagram handle. The Eagle Fighting Championship owner wished Sazhidov good luck in his future endeavors:

Yoel Romero told Khabib Nurmagomedov about his time spent with Sazhid Sazhidov in Russia

A video of Khabib Nurmagomedov's interaction with Yoel Romero went viral. In the video, 'The Soldier of God' can be seen reminiscing about his time spent in Makhachkala.

Further in the video, Romero asked Khabib if the latter had met Sazhid Sazhidov in Russia. The former UFC lightweight champion replied, saying he had wrestled with the legendary coach since he was a kid. Romero also fondly recalled Sazhidov's hospitality and claimed to want to revisit Makhachkala again.

During his conversation with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Romero said:

"Hey, Sazhid! My man. I want to see you again. Maybe next year [I will] go to Makhachkala. I will go with you and your family to your house. I want to talk to you, I love you, bro. I love you. I had a good time with you in wrestling. I had a good time with you in Makhachkala. God bless you, my man."

You gotta love this. Normally I don’t like to hear people speak broken English, but I can listen to Khabib and Yoel Romero all day. They’re talking about Sazhid Sazhidov, a former rival of Yoel and a good friend of Khabib. pic.twitter.com/CFlWBEyx20

— Crack Hardly (@CrackHardly) March 2, 2020

Check out Yoel Romero's wrestling match against Sazhid Sazhidov below: