Khabib Nurmagomedov got the better of former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold during a wrestling session in training despite the pair being two weight classes apart.
Now-retired UFC legend Nurmagomedov competed at lightweight for most of his flawless MMA career. Rockhold won the UFC middleweight belt in 2015 and even competed at 205lb in his last fight.
Rockhold hasn't fought in the promotion for three years but is gearing up for his targeted return against Paulo Costa later this year. Nurmagomedov and Rockhold recently trained together at the American Kickboxing Academy gym in California, with the Russian unsurprisingly coming out on top in the wrestling exchanges.
"If sambo was easy... It’d be called Luke Rockhold," Nurmagomedov jokingly said after outwrestling his teammate. "It’s okay. Ask Luke what happened today." The Russian can be heard saying in another training clip posted by Rockhold: "I just miss you, I hug you brother."
Rockhold praised Nurmagomedov's grappling abilities and said the Russian was even able to hold down accomplished freestyle wrestler Deron Winn, who competes at middleweight. "This is number one bulls***," Rockhold said of Nurmagomedov's grappling on Daniel Cormier's YouTube channel.
"He gets like the body lock. When you give him the side position, then it's like nothing [you've ever felt]. Check the video, because Deron [Winn] couldn't get up for two rounds straight."
Nurmagomedov may have competed at lightweight during his impeccable UFC run, but the now-retired fighter has put on a considerable amount of weight since hanging up his gloves. Rockhold joked that the former lightweight king has piled on 50lb since his last fight in 2020.
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Fans have since weighed in on the video and questioned why Nurmagomedov never moved up to welterweight to try and become a two-weight champion during his unbeaten MMA career.
One user wrote: "S hame we didn't get to see him go up weight classes." With another agreeing: "For real. Him being mates with Kamaru [Usman] seems to be the big reason. Such a shame, I would've loved to see him vs any of the top 10 welterweights."
Nurmagomedov retired at the peak of his fighting career after promising his mother that he wouldn't fight again following the death of his father. UFC boss Dana White tried to convince the Russian to rematch Conor McGregor, but he officially vacated his belt last year and will be inducted into the promotion's Hall of Fame in July.
