Khabib Nurmagomedov - Where Eagles Dare Workout

Welcome to our ‘Where Eagles Dare’ Workout. The first of our MMA Legend workouts. Based on the training regime of Dagestan’s finest son Khabib Nurmagomedov

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Introduction

Khabib Nurmagomedov is a Russian former professional mixed martial artist, regarded by many as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history. He is most famous for his time in the lightweight division of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), where he is the longest-reigning UFC Lightweight Champion, having held the title since April 2018. With 29 wins and no losses. Khabib retired after his last bout against Justin Gaethje with an undefeated record.

Background

Prior to his UFC career, Khabib was already a two-time Combat Sambo World Champion. He possessed a background in the disciplines of Sambo, Judo and Graeco-roman Pankration style wrestling. His wrestling style enabled him to dominate his division in the sport. Indeed, even elite fighters have been unable to deal with his relentless style once the fight hit the ground. Following, Khabib’s last title defence (against Gaethje) he currently stands at 29-0 and his future in MMA is uncertain. The death of his father impacted him greatly and Khabib had stated he wished to move onto other things. However, one of his father’s wishes is that Khabib won 30 MMA fights and then retired. Does that mean that he will return to the octagon for one last fight to round the victory tally up? Time will tell. Regardless, Khabib Nurmagomedov is still currently ranked number 1 in the UFC men’s pound-for-pound rankings.

Humble Beginnings

Growing up in Dagestan, Russia, Khabib’s interest in martial arts began when he watched students training at the local gym. He started at the age of eight under the tutelage of his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov. Abdulmanap had also wrestled from an early age and had undertaken combat training in judo and sambo in the military. When the family moved to Makhachkala (Dagestan’s capital) continued to wrestle before starting judo at the age of 15. Khabib frequently got into street fights in his youth, before knuckling down and focusing his attention on MMA.

Khabib trained at the Makhachev Freestyle Wrestling Club whilst growing up in Dagestan. Later when he began fighting in the US he joined the AKA (American Kickboxing Academy). Since becoming successful within the UFC, Nurmagomedov has gone on to form his own fight team Eagles MMA.

Style

Naturally, Khabib’s style is heavily wrestling-based, with an emphasis on putting relentless pressure against his opponents. Utilising his background of grappling, judo/sambo takedowns combined with his deceptive strength Khabib will pressure his opponents against the cage. He tends to ‘tie up’ his opponent’s limbs to prevent them from escaping and stop them from throwing strikes. From this position, he mercilessly dominates and wears out his opponents. His opponents have to work to remove Khabib’s weight off them whilst he rains down a continual bombardment of strikes on them. With their limbs ‘tied up,’ the fighters have little defence as they are pummelled relentlessly. Most of Khabib’s fights have ended with stoppages when the referee has seen enough or when his opponent submits/taps/passes out. As of UFC 254, nineteen of Khabib Nurmagomedov twenty-nine victories had come by way of either TKO/KO or submission.

Stats

Fight Record

Significant Professional fights

Click on the links below for more details on Khabib Nurmagomedov significant fights.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Al Iaquinta

Khabib was initially set to fight interim champ Tony Ferguson for the lightweight title, but disaster struck weeks before the fight when Ferguson tore his knee and had to withdraw. This left the title vacant, and UFC scrambled to find a replacement. Enter Max Holloway, who stepped in on short notice but was later deemed unfit to compete due to severe weight cutting.

Raging’ Al

With the event days away, UFC was left in a tight spot. The call went to Al Iaquinta, a 14th-ranked fighter and part-time real estate agent. Despite being a last-minute fill-in, Iaquinta brought toughness to the fight. Due to his low ranking, only Khabib could win the title.

Khabib showcased his versatility, abandoning his usual wrestling-heavy approach for a standup strategy, dominating Iaquinta over five rounds. He won via unanimous decision, finally claiming the UFC Lightweight Championship.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Conor McGregor

On Friday, 3 August 2018, the UFC announced that Khabib would defend his lightweight title against Conor McGregor at UFC 229 on 6 October in Las Vegas. The build-up to the fight was one of the most volatile in UFC history, marked by heated confrontations and bad blood between the camps. To call it intense would be a massive understatement.

Post-fight brawl

In the fight itself, Khabib dominated the first two rounds but lost the third—a career first. However, he bounced back in the fourth, submitting McGregor and retaining his title. The victory was overshadowed by the chaotic aftermath: goaded by McGregor’s teammate Dillon Danis, Khabib leapt out of the Octagon, igniting a mass brawl between both camps.

The incident led to fines and suspensions for both fighters but didn’t hurt the event’s popularity. UFC 229 drew 2.4 million pay-per-view buys, the highest in MMA history.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Dustin Poirier

Khabib defended his lightweight title for the second time against interim champ Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 on 7 September 2019 in Abu Dhabi, UAE. Poirier had claimed the interim title during Khabib’s suspension after the McGregor fight.

Khabib secured victory in the third round with a rear-naked choke, unifying the titles and earning his second Performance of the Night bonus. The mutual respect between Khabib and Poirier was a refreshing contrast to the heated rivalry with McGregor. After the fight, they swapped shirts as a sign of respect, with Khabib later auctioning Poirier’s shirt for $100,000, donating the proceeds to Poirier’s charity. UFC President Dana White matched the amount, doubling the impact.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Justin Gaethje

Khabib was set to defend his title against Tony Ferguson on 18 April 2020 at UFC 249, marking the fifth time the fight had been scheduled. Both fighters were on 12-fight win streaks, but COVID-19 travel restrictions left Khabib unable to leave Russia, forcing him off the card. Ferguson instead faced Justin Gaethje for the interim lightweight title, with Gaethje winning via fifth-round TKO to secure a shot at Khabib.

Unification Bout

On 24 October 2020, Khabib faced Gaethje in a unification bout at UFC 254. It was an emotional fight for Khabib, his first without the guidance of his father, who had passed away earlier in the year. Khabib secured victory with a second-round triangle choke, unifying the titles. Overcome with emotion, he broke down in tears, comforted by Gaethje in a heartfelt display of sportsmanship.

In his post-fight interview, Khabib announced his retirement, citing a promise to his mother to stop fighting without his father by his side.

Training

How does a Dagestani Eagle prepare for a fight? Khabib uses a fairly low tech approach with training in comparison to the average UFC fighter training in a high tech UFC gym.

When Khabib trains in Dagestan the training is as basic as possible. Khabib is often shown in videos training in sparse gyms or outdoors, in all conditions, in the Dagestan hills and mountains.

Within his training is a massive focus on cardio fitness and endurance, muscle building, power, speed and engaging all fast-twitch fibres with speed bursts and dynamic exercises.

For strength conditioning, bodyweight exercises appear to be favoured. The exercises that Khabib favours leaves him strong and ensures he builds lean muscle mass rather than bulky muscle. The bag-work and wrestling drills round off the conditioning by providing cardiovascular endurance and working the core.

Where Eagle's Dare Workout

These circuits are based on the training regime of Khabib Nurmagomedov. They are a combination of bodyweight, resistance exercise, various cardiovascular methods, wrestling and MMA drills. We hope you enjoy them. 🙂

You will need...

Various functional low tech equipment can be used (although not essential) any equipment found here that you do not have access to can easily be supplemented. Useful equipment for these workouts, however, will include sandbags, dumbbells, barbells, boxing/MMA gloves, punchbag, sparring pads, medicine balls, resistance bands.

Structure

The training is over 5 days per week with Saturday and Sunday left for active recovery. Day-to-day, the training is spread out over 2 sessions to be undertaken in the morning and afternoon or evening (am/pm). Undertake a cardio session of your choice in the morning (30-45 mins), then undertake fitness and conditioning and MMA drills on consecutive days (so Monday fitness, then Tuesday MMA drills for example).

The afternoons/evening sessions will be sessions of fitness training and MMA drills approximately 30 – 45 minutes for each. The fitness sessions will consist of body weight, resistance and some cardio work, whilst the MMA drills will concentrate on shadow boxing rounds, wrestling drills, bag work and bodyweight exercises.

Cardio (Morning).
Fitness and conditioning (alternating afternoon/evening).
Wrestling and Striking drills (alternating afternoon/evening).

Cardio Training

(4-5 days a week)

30-45 minutes of cardio drills. Alternate between steady-state and shorter intense drills (for instance 1-day sprint training, the following day a light jog). Bring out your inner Dagestani and try to make sure the exercise is outdoors in the fresh air.

Cardio to choose from:-

Sprints.
Hill Sprints.
Swimming.
Longer distance runs. 45 mins.
Rowing.
Stair climbing.

Fitness and Conditioning

(3 days a week/every other day)

Circuit 1 - Indoors

Warm-up – Treadmill – 10 mins steady-state, easy pace.

Superset (for 5 rounds)

Zercher squats – 12 reps 75-80% of 1RM x 5
Treadmill or measured sprints – 5 mins. 30 secs 80-90% max pace. 30 secs recovery X4. On final sprint 100% max pace for 30 seconds.

Triple Superset (for 5 rounds)

Bench Press (Barbell or Dumbells) – 12 reps of 75-85% of 1RM.
Push-ups – x 15 reps (to failure on the last set).
Rowing – x 2 mins.

Superset – 5 rounds (30 seconds rest between rounds)

Bag work (or shadowboxing) – 2 minutes.
Burpees – x 1 minute.

Triple Superset – 4 x rounds

Triceps dips – x 15 reps for 4 rounds.
DB Lunge walks – x 20 reps (10 each side) for 4 rounds.
Bosu ball with med ball throw – x 15 reps for 4 rounds.

Finisher

5 minutes of ‘Smash the Bag’ – Jog whilst carrying a sandbag on your shoulder for 25 metres, slam, 10 x ground and pound punches, sprint and back. Repeat.

Circuit 2 - Outdoors

Circuit 5 x rounds. Set up stations and move from one to the other. 30 seconds rest only between rounds.

Halos (kettlebell/dumbbell) – x 20 reps (10 x clockwise/10 x anticlockwise).
Weighted woodcutters – x 30 reps (15 right/15 x left).
Push-ups – x 20 reps.
Sprint drills – (x 25 metres) with ground and pound x 20 punches (10 left/10 right – as fast as possible).
Weighted squats jumps – x 20 reps.
Hill sprints – x 8 rounds (each sprint followed by 20 x reps sit-ups with air punches).
Medicine ball slams – x 20 reps.
Triceps dips – x 20 reps.

Finisher

5 minute round of all-out bag work or shadow boxing

Circuit 3 - Indoors

Warm-up – Treadmill – 10 mins steady-state, easy pace.

Superset – 5 rounds (30 seconds rest between rounds)

Deadlifts – 12 reps 75-80% of 1RM.
Squat hops – 25 metres – then return.
Assault bike – 30 secs then 1-minute speed.

Triple Superset x 5 rounds

Barbell rows – (Barbell or Dumbbells) x 12 reps of 75-85% of 1RM.
Pull-ups – x 10 reps (to failure on the last set).
Rowing – x 2 mins.

Superset – 5 rounds (30 seconds rest between rounds)

Bag work (or shadow boxing) – x 2 minutes.
Burpees – x 1 minute.

Giant set – 4 x rounds

Sandbag shouldering – x 15 reps for 4 rounds
Dumbbell thrusters – x 15 reps.
Agility mat hops – for 1 minute.
Med ball sit-ups and wall throw – x 15 reps.
Farmer’s walks – for 1 minute.

Finisher

5 minutes of ‘Smash the Bag’ – Jog whilst carrying a sandbag on your shoulder for 25 metres, slam, 10 x ground and pound punches, sprint and back. Repeat.

Circuit 4 - Outside

Circuit 5 x rounds. Set up stations and move from one to the other. 30 seconds rest only between rounds.

Shoulder throws with resistance bands – x 20 reps (10 x left shoulder/10 x over right shoulder).
Burpees – x 25 reps.
Agility lateral drills cones with 20-second combo at end – x 4 reps.
Wall Balls – x 1 minute.
Hill sprints – x 8 with boxers sit-ups x 20 reps.
Suicide planks – x 30 seconds.
Reverse crunch – x 20 reps.
Judo push-ups – x 15 reps.

Finisher

5 minute round of all-out bag work or shadow boxing

Wrestling and Striking Drills

(2-3 days a week)

The MMA training is split into wrestling and striking components. One day will be wrestling drills, the next striking drills. The drills will involve pads and sandbags, but fear not if you don’t have that equipment. Be creative, shadowbox, use pillows and make your own sandbag. Partnering up for this would be good but again don’t worry if you have to train alone, the main thing is getting this done.

Striking - 7 stations - 20-30 minutes - AMRAP - No rest

Shadow Boxing – x 1 minute.
Agility Drill – x 1 minute. Use an agility mat if you have one, or simply mark out spots on the ground and jump back and forth over them as fast as you can. Switch up the pattern-move back and forth, side to side, and diagonally.
Rope jump – x 1 minute.
Kicking Drill – x 30 kicks. Do ten reps of a ‘teep’ kick. Do them slowly, focusing on form. Immediately do another set, this time faster, but still keeping an eye on good form. For the last set kick as last as you can.
Sprints x 25 metres – there and back and punch bag x10 as fast as you can. Repeat x 1.
Combination attacks on the heavy bag – x 1 minute. Simple combinations on the heavy bag. Use, knees, kicks, elbows and fists.
Sprints x 25 metres with 10 x jumping knee attacks to bag. Repeat x 1.

Wrestling Drills- 8 stations 20-30 minutes - AMRAP - No rest

Sandbag shouldering and drop – x 1 minute.
MMA floor kick-outs – x 45 seconds.
Fireman’s carries/Sandbag carry sprint drills – x 25 metres. Drop bag. Sprint 25 metres and back. Repeat.
Clinch work on the heavy bag – x 1 minute. Grabbing the heavy bag close to shoulders in the clinch. Pummel it for the duration using elbows, fists, hammer-fists and knees, from various angles. Keep close and don’t stop.
MMA sprawls and counter-attacks – x 1 minute. Sprawl and get up with an immediate counter flurry of kicks and punches. Repeat.
MMA Ground and pound on the punch bag – x 1 minute. Constantly switch position between ‘Full mount’ (sat on top of bag) and ‘Half Guard’ (on either side of the bag). Repeatedly punch bag into oblivion.
Alternate sandbag squats – x 1 minute. Squat with the sandbag on one shoulder. On returning to standing, raise the sandbag above the head and transfer to the opposite shoulder. Squat. Repeat for time.
Alternate sandbag half-get ups – x 1 minute.