Khabib Nurmagomedov was one of, if not the most dominant UFC fighter ever, but the retired, undefeated, former champion wants someone to actually be better than he was ... Islam Makhachev!
Of course, Makhachev is fighting Alex Volkanovski in just a few hours in the main event at UFC 294 ... and we recently spoke with Ali Abdelaziz, Islam and Khabib's manager and close friend, about their relationship.
"Khabib wants Islam to be better. That's what's beautiful about it," Ali said of Nurmagomedov's desire for his pupil to surpass his accomplishments.
Whether 31-year-old Makhachev is better in certain areas (striking, for example) is up for debate ... but when it comes to pure dominance of an opponent, Ali doesn't believe Islam's quiet on Khabib's (29-0) level just yet.
"Islam lost, Khabib never lost. Islan might be all the way technically better, but dominance, I don't think anybody can be as dominant as Khabib is. You see Henry lose, Kamaru. A lot of guys lost. Khabib never even have one blood leave his body. When you have a guy who never bled in 29 fights, it's very hard to match him. It's a very tall order to match him. It's almost impossible."
But, that's exactly what Khabib wants for Islam ... who has a record of 24-1. His sole loss came in 2015.
Abdelaziz does think there's another fighter who is closer to Nurmagomedov's dominance ... Umar Nurmagomedov, Khabib's cousin.
Umar is 16-0, and 4-0 in the UFC ... and the 12th ranked bantamweight.
"The guy who is closer to Khabib than anybody is Umar. I truly believe Umar is the closest to Khabib's dominance."
For Islam, the #3 ranked pound-for-pound fighter in the entire UFC, a win over #2 ranked Volkanovski would be another step towards fulfilling Khabib's wish.
Just a few hours! 👊