As a fighter born and raised in Dagestan, Russia, Khabib Nurmagomedov has embedded the art of Sambo into his fighting style. It is the art that led him to professional mixed martial arts competition in 2008, under the guidance of his father Abdulmanap.
While Sambo is one of the fighting forms that is generally held in high regard, fighters like Chael Sonnen refuse to do so.
“Sambo sucks,” Sonnen said in a recent video. “Sambo’s always sucked. And I don’t believe Khabib is a Sambo player. I think somewhere, he just wanted to pay respects to Sambo.