Issue 169

August 2018

AKA legend Javier Mendez opens up on the faith, the fighting skills, and the next opponent for Khabib Nurmagomedov. “He's the most generous honorable and loyal of all my guys."

What is it like to have a fighter with such intense faith?

I don’t really think much of it. Except I’ve never coached a fighter that has people from all over the world wanting to come down, to make a trip, just to shake hands with him and leave. I’ve never had that happen in my life. This is a continuous practice with people. They’re always coming down and it’s not Russians who are coming down to see him, they’re Muslims. The Muslim community is embracing him. They come in very respectful, say hello, take a picture and then they go. They don’t stick around, it’s amazing. I’ve never seen that.

Are religion and fighting linked for him?

100 percent they balance each other. His faith and his religion, who he is as a person is what makes him unbeatable.

Does he go off to pray several times a day?

He usually goes to mosque on Friday. He takes off early and goes and prays. He does pray once or twice a day.

Do you think it helps him in difficult times?

I think his upbringing from his father and his religion combine to make him really mentally strong and deal with all obstacles that come his way. It’s not just his religion, it’s his upbringing from his father. He helped mold him.

Like being around him in New York, with the Conor McGregor bus attack incident, was he calm?

I wasn’t around any of the bad stuff [that happened with Conor McGregor]. I saw zero of it. But I did go to him when I heard about the bus incident. My son told me, we were staying in a different room and my son said, “Hey Dad, something went on with Khabib, Conor attacked the bus.” I go, “What! What are you talking about?” So I called Khabib and went down to his room. There’s about 20 or so people in his room. I asked him what the heck happened, but he said, “Well, I don’t know. Conor attacked the bus, I wanted to go out and meet him, but they wouldn’t let me off the bus.” Alex Davies held him back, which I’m glad he did and Ali, Khabib’s manager, was being held back by another person, [Ilir] Latifi. They were held back from confronting Conor and I’m glad they were because it could have been a lot worse. If I was on the bus I would have done the exact same thing. I wouldn’t have let him go out there. He’s a professional. I understand the mentality he has, “If you want to fight me, call me, no problem.” But as a coach, if we’re going to fight, let’s do it for the masses and make money out of it. Not get in trouble and go to jail and end up fighting your case in court. That’s not the way to do it. He understood that.

How would you describe Khabib as a human being and then as a fighter?

As a human being he’s the most generous, honorable and loyal of all my guys. He’s like Daniel Cormier, Daniel has the same traits. Super guy, very loyal. He and Khabib are kind of in the same category when it comes to giving, loyalty and being humble. That’s what strikes me about those guys. They’re super caring. They go out of their way to help people. Don’t get me wrong, my other guys are really nice too but they don’t go out of their way to help people like Khabib and Daniel do.

Are they both characters that can flick a switch?

Yeah. When they go into fight mode, it’s all about fighting. With Khabib and Daniel you ask them for help and they say “Okay, what do you need?” There’s no question about what it might be, but it’s like it’s already done. With those guys things are done without explaining, that’s why they’re special. All my guys are special, but that’s what sticks out about those two. They’ll say yes when they’re not even sure what you’re asking and they’ll do it.

How important is it for Khabib to fight Conor at some point?

I think because of the bus deal, the whole Artem [Lobov] deal, it’s important now they fight. I don’t think it was before that point because the title was the most important thing for Khabib. But now that this has all gone on, it’s very important that they fight. Because of his legacy and because it’s unfinished business. Just like I feel with Tony and Khabib, they have to fight too. Those are the only two I feel Khabib has to fight, in any particular order, it doesn’t matter. I believe he has to fight them with Conor being No.1.

Do you believe Conor will fight Khabib?

I believe Conor will fight anyone for the right amount of money. Conor’s not afraid of any man alive. He’s going to do what he has to do for the Conor business and if the Conor business is good with Khabib, he’ll make it work. You hear him say it all the time “I’m a businessman.” Conor is going to do what’s best for Conor. If he feels he won’t get paid then he won’t do it. Which is kind of ridiculous because he was ready to fight in the street. We’re talking business but you were willing to do it for free? You might have been put away for a long time, it doesn’t make sense. But I guess when we’re talking about coming to the table to fight, he doesn’t want to fight for nothing. He wants to get paid what he’s worth. I don’t blame him. If I’m his manager, I would do the same thing.

What happens between Khabib and Conor?

I think it’s the most exciting fight in the history of the sport. Only because you’ve got a striker that’s phenomenal and a ground guy that’s phenomenal too and who can actually take a good shot. It comes down to not striker vs striker, but striker vs grappler. Because there’s no way in heck that I can get Khabib ready to do a pure striking match with Conor. It’s just not going to happen. We won’t be able to strike with him. He’s too precise, his striking game is ahead of us. We have to work around that. Of course we have to strike with him, but not strike, strike and strike with him. He’s just too damn good for where we’re at. People say there’s holes in Khabib’s game, but we’re still learning.

Give him an opportunity to actually have a striking game, then pick on his holes. This last fight really irritates me, because Al Iaquinta is a real hell of a fighter. For people to discredit how good of a fighter Al is, Al is a good striker. You don’t know how good a striker Al is until we see him against his next opponent, then people will know how good he is. You can’t forget Al beat Kevin Lee. OK, the Kevin Lee back then isn’t the same as he is today, but Al is much better now too. How can you forget that? How can you discredit that? Al stepped up at late notice. He went five rounds with a super-tough individual like Khabib. The victory was Al’s only in the fact he went five rounds. He didn’t win a round, he didn’t come close to winning a round. But he gets outstruck and people think there’s too many holes in Khabib’s game if he can’t take you down. Wait a minute, in every fight there’s holes in everyone’s game. Some less than others, but it’s true. But, when you outstrike an individual 5-1 or more, how is there holes in that game? That’s not even his game and it’s on top of the fact he didn’t try to take you down. He’s a chain wrestler, Khabib doesn’t just try once to take you down. He shoots and shoots and shoots. If you watch the first round he tried to shoot and missed. But he shot him again and took him down.

Because why?

Because that’s what he does. I told Khabib we were going to stick to father’s plan. Stick to the ground because we don’t want to do stand-up. He’s too dangerous. I told Khabib not to get comfortable with this guy because he’ll get stuck standing with him. What does he do though? He gets comfortable. So after the third round I told Khabib to go back to father’s plan. And then in the fourth round it was obvious he wasn’t going to give me what I wanted, so I said give me both. Father’s plan and what Khabib wanted to do. If you watch the fifth round he does his stand-up and goes back into his chain wrestling. What was the difference between the fifth round and the first? His desire to stand up, that’s all it was. Where was he getting hit? He wasn’t. Could he have got hit? Absolutely, because you can’t discredit how great a fighter Al is. I thought Al was the toughest opponent for us out of the people who were available and that’s what proved to be the case.

What about these fights for Khabib? Max Holloway, Brian Ortega, Kevin Lee, Eddie Alvarez, and even Tyron Woodley?

I think they’re all fine. If it’s not McGregor and it’s not Tony Ferguson, the guy who deserves the next fight is Dustin [Poirier], based on his accomplishments. That’s who I believe belongs there. I’m not the decision-maker, but they’re my thoughts.

What about Holloway?

I think it would be a great fight because Max comes to fight. When I saw him step in he was like ten pounds heavier than Khabib, I knew he wasn’t going to make weight. He’s a big boy, how he makes 145 I don’t know. Much respect for what he did, he tried. Nothing but respect to that guy. He’s a great fighter. I’m really anxious to see what happens between him and Ortega. He’s a great fighter. Great person too, I like people like him who are great inside and outside the cage.

Or stepping up a division to fight Woodley?

He has it in him. I just don’t know if he wants to. He’s never talked about it. He’s talked about GSP, but only at 155 not at 170. I don’t know if he wants to fight at 170. He’s never once in his whole life talked to me about 170. So that being the case, I don’t know what to say about it. His goal was never to fight at 170. His goal was to fight at 155, win the title, defend it and retire undefeated. When that time comes, I don’t know. As long as his mind stays strong, he will stay undefeated. People will judge him on his last fight, but that is a mistake. His last fight is never the same. He improves in each fight. Watch his fights, he’s improving all the time. So expect a new improved Khabib in his next fight. He’ll be better and more dominant. The more ring time you have the more you can do. Khabib has a habit of playing around in there. He doesn’t necessarily do what the coaches want. He does what we want half the time and the other half of the time he does what he wants. If he always did what we wanted the fight would be over in the first or second.

Is there an extra pressure on Khabib carrying an undefeated record?

I don’t think there’s that much pressure. He believes he’s the best and he loves challenges. He wants to fight the best. Every time we have someone in the gym who is a visitor and a tough guy, Khabib is always clamoring. “Can I spar him, can I spar him?” Once I say no, he’s, “No, please coach. Please. One round, please?” He’s always excited for challenges and he always succeeds.

Have you ever seen him angry outside the cage?

One time. One of my guys got to be a dumb idiot with him and Khabib got really upset with him and they almost went at it. Of course, we had to stop it. Khabib was in the right. He should have beaten him up, but we stopped it. I don’t know of any individual that would have been calm after the situation with this individual. Khabib is pretty in control. One time he got upset, one time.

What are the things you encourage him to work on?

I always encourage him to work on what his father taught him. His father is a great coach, great teacher. Stick to the father's plan. I always say that. I’ve never seen anyone dominate him on the ground and I never will. It’s a simple plan: Take him down and smash him. I’ve never seen that kid on the bottom for more than five seconds before he starts moving out. He’s never on the bottom, ever. He’s amazing. People don’t get it, not until they’re in there with him. When they’re in there with him it becomes a different story.

Does he get his competitive streak from his dad? What about his mother?

I don’t know his mum whatsoever, but he gets that competitive streak from his dad. That man is very competitive. His dad’s a stud. He gets it from his dad.

Does he have any fears in life?

His faith and his religion helps him overcome his fears. From what I’ve experienced with him, he doesn’t appear to have fears. He definitely tries to be a good person, live a clean life and help people. He is every one of those things. That’s why the Muslim community have taken to him because if you’re going to look up to somebody, you definitely want him as your role model. That’s the person you want your son to follow in the footsteps of.

Is it fair to say Khabib has become another example of the success of the ‘American dream’?

100 percent. Conor McGregor the same thing – it brought him riches and fame. Conor wouldn’t be who he is without the USA. The USA is the American dream and I’m proud to say it. I’m proud to say I’m an American citizen. This is my country. I love Mexico but America is my country. Khabib wouldn’t be who he is as a fighter and champion without the USA.