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- One of the biggest combat sports matches of the year, the UFC 254 main event between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, takes place Saturday in Abu Dhabi.
- The rivalry between the two lightweights has so far been cordial, however, there has been talk of it being a clash of styles between the Russian champion and his American challenger.
- Nurmagomedov said this week that there is a big difference between Russian wrestling and the American style.
- One of his childhood friends previously told Insider that the Russian style is more beautiful as it is more technical.
- Former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier, an adult friend of Nurmagomedov, said wrestling is a way of life from a young age for many Dagestani children.
- Visit Insider’s homepage for more stories.
FIGHT ISLAND — There is a big difference between American wrestling and the Russian style, according to the sambo specialist Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Nurmagomedov defends his UFC lightweight championship against American striker Justin Gaethje on Saturday at UFC 254, held in the Flash Forum on Fight Island, Abu Dhabi.
Throughout the build-up, Gaethje has talked-up a battle between two distinct nationalities. Gaethje has a background in collegiate wrestling in the US, while Nurmagomedov practices sambo, a wrestling style that originated in the Soviet Union.
And Nurmagomedov, who is from Dagestan, noted a difference between the two approaches to wrestling depending on whether you are American or Russian.
“I think it’s a big difference,” Nurmagomedov said during a press conference held on one of Fight Island’s beaches Wednesday.
"I know he knows how to wrestle. Worry about wrestling 25 minutes. I told [former two-weight UFC champion Daniel Cormier] today: 'When you fight with Stipe Miocic last time, you grabbed his leg one time, and you take him down. He got up very quickly, and you're finished.' All other minutes [were] standup.
"Between me and 'DC' is a big difference."
The relentless approach to scoring a takedown and then transitioning from one grappling hold to another is something distinctive to Dagestan, Nurmagomedov said.
"If I'm going to try to take him down once and he defends, I'm going to go all night. This is the big difference between US wrestling and Dagestan wrestling.
"They all good when they stand up, but when I grab them, it changes a little bit. I think more than Dustin [Poirier] and Conor [McGregor] and other guys, [Gaethje] knows to wrestle.
"It's going to be a little bit hard. I prepared myself to try to take him down 100 times. It's going to be interesting Saturday night."
The Russian style is apparently more beautiful because it relies on technique rather than physique
A childhood friend of Nurmagomedov, the former PFL welterweight champion Magomed Magomedkerimov, previously told Insider that Russian wrestling is more beautiful than American.
"The difference between American style and Dagestani wrestling is that in America, they try to train more physical, hard training," Magomedkerimov told us.
"In Dagestan, they train more on technique and skills. It is a more beautiful style of wrestling."
The PFL analyst and former UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture told Insider that children in Dagestan are encouraged to wrestle from a young age.
"Certainly I think the Dagestanis are using the old Soviet system, identifying these kids, literally 3, 4, and 5 years old, then steering them into these sports where they're getting notoriety and developing a ton of skills."
That is certainly true for Nurmagomedov, who was first taught how to wrestle by his late father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov at the age of five.
Courture told us: "That's why it's such a rich area for combative sports; it's just their culture, something they're proud of and should be proud of as they're amazing competitors."
UFC commentator and former champ Cormier, who trains alongside Nurmagomedov at the renowned American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, California, thinks differently.
Kids from Dagestan have little to do aside from wrestle and fight, says Cormier
Speaking at a Fight Island media day Thursday, Cormier said Nurmagomedov's fighting style is more reflective on his gym than it is on Dagestan, but did add that when he visited Nurmagomedov's hometown it was clear to him that everybody there wanted to wrestle, fight, and do little else.
"His ability to chase down takedowns, that's what it is [which makes Nurmagomedov so good]. He said something yesterday about me taking Stipe down once and then stopping because he got up, well … he won't stop.
"He'll continue to try to take you down until eventually you kind of go, 'Okay, I'm going to accept being on my back.' When you accept being on your back, it's no good with him because he's so good at top control."
On the apparent differences between American and Russian wrestling, Cormier said: "He's always been a good takedown guy. Before he was just a takedown guy, now his striking has gotten so much better.
"That's not only a Khabib thing, it's an AKA thing."
Cormier then pointed to Cain Velasquez, another AKA graduate, who he says chased 30 takedowns in a single fight against Junior dos Santos.
"These guys will chase takedowns on a ton of occasions."
He said: "I've had to get multiple takedowns in fights, too. Where I just wrestled, wrestled, and wrestled. We developed that in the gym.
"We have a drill where we're wrestling different guys every minute for 15 minutes and they're trying to take you down or you're trying to take them down.
"We build these drills to try to have that ability to do that inside the fight."
Cormier has visited Dagestan, and says that what struck him is how much people love wrestling.
"It's Dagestan. Have you been there? I have. They're not doing all that much over there [apart from] learning to fight and wrestle.
"I wrestled there and dudes can all wrestle. They're not hanging out, going to the movies. They're wrestling and they're fighting. I love it."
Regardless of distinctive national styles, one thing is clear to Cormier: "Khabib has taken it to the next level."
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