Khabib Nurmagomedov ‘needs some work’ on how to be a cornerman after UFC 302, admits head coach

Yet despite being one of the greatest fighters to have ever lived, it turns out that Khabib Nurmagomedov is far from the perfect cornerman; as revealed by the man standing beside him at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey.

Coach Javier Mendez offers key advice to Khabib on how to corner

Speaking via The Schmo YouTube channel, coach Javier Mendez, who’s trained both Nurmagomedov and Makhachev, admitted that when it comes to cornering, Khabib needs to work on how he offers instructions to his fighters.

“Khabib’s actually becoming a great coach and a great cornerman – [but] he needs some work on the cornering. He’s great at game planning, he’s fantastic at game planning but we need to work a little bit on the cornering – just a little bit.”

Mendez was able to expand on the corner work of Nurmagomedov and what ‘The Eagle’ needs to do to improve his coaching technique when speaking just a few minutes later via the Helen Yee Sports YouTube channel.

“He needs to master the corner though… We still need to work the corner because he goes a little crazy on there, up and down, slamming on the table – [I told him] ‘Calm down, calm down’. He gets really amped up.

“I mean he loves his fighters so much [as] his brothers that you know, he puts everything into that fight when he goes, I forgot what it was like to have him in the corner; it’s kind of crazy.”

The veteran trainer explained how he offered Khabib some simple advice on how to better corner Islam Makhachev or any fight that takes place in front of a packed-out arena full of screaming MMA fans.

“I gave him instructions on ‘Hey, it’s okay to do what you need to do but just sit down, yell as loud as you can to get your fighters’ attention, you don’t have to hit the table, stand up and cause the commission to tell us to sit down’.

“Scream as loud as you can – he goes ‘Coach, how am I going to reach him’, I go ‘Scream, scream as loud as you can’ but you’ve got to say things within reason because you got to listen the crowd, if the crowd’s screaming [too] then your fighter is going to hear nothing.”

A poignant reminder of how decades of experience cornering fighters still trump the outstanding fighting experience; Mendez noted that Khabib needs to “Wait for the crowd [to quieten down] sometimes and then boom, say something right at that time.

“If you watch, there’s certain times when I’m able to say something to Islam and he does it because he can hear me, but if he can’t hear you, we’re just wasting our breath.”

Coach Mendez trusts Islam to challenge himself at the right time

Following his submission victory over Dustin Poirier, there are only two likely outcomes for what Makhachev’s next fight could be – another lightweight title defense against Arman Tsarukyan, or a shot at the welterweight belt, currently held by Leon Edwards.

Unsurprisingly, Mendez trusts that when the right time comes, Makhachev will take the chance to move up to the next weight division with the full support of his team.

“For me, if that’s a question that you’re asking me, I would want what he wants – and he wants to fight for the welterweight title… Let’s see what the UFC offers him because whatever they’re going to offer, he’s going to take. He’s not going to refuse opponents but I’m pretty sure he would like the opportunity to fight for the welterweight title.”

Mendez teased that if the UFC doesn’t want to see Makhachev as a double champion right now, “let’s see what kind of buzz we can create to make that happen.

“Obviously, there’s Arman Tsarukyan there that he needs to take care of, and Arman would be on board too no problem – I don’t care who he fights [next], I just want what he wants, and he wants to test himself and go for legacy… It’s not about opponents, it’s about legacy.”

The welterweight title is set to be defended in July at UFC 304 as champion Leon Edwards defends his crown in his backyard against surging contender Belal Muhammad.

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