Khabib Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, allegedly wanted his fighters to avoid Thailand.
Khabib (29-0) and teammates like Islam Makhachev started training at the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose, California, early in their careers. While AKA California is headed by Javier Mendez, former UFC fighter Mike Swick opened up another branch of AKA in Thailand. As Thailand has evolved into an MMA hub over the years, AKA Thailand has hosted a plethora of elite UFC fighters. However, Khabib and his teammates never visited AKA Thailand.
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Swick recently revealed that Abdulmanap, a strict disciplinarian, had an issue with his fighters visiting Thailand.