“Physically, he’s a very strong guy.” How Islam Makhachev trains – say the fighters of his team

First, let’s clarify: Ikram Aliskerov And Tagir Ulanbekov were supposed to fight at the UFC tournament in Las Vegas on June 15, but Aliskerov withdrew from the tournament to fly to Riyadh to replace the injured Khamzat Chimaev in a fight with Robert Whittaker. But Ulanbekov failed to make weight and was pulled from the fight. It so happened that we devoted a significant part of the interview with everyone to Islam Makhachev, who on June 1 defended the UFC lightweight champion belt for the third time and became one of the UFC record holders for the number of defenses.

Ulanbekov is the same age as Makhachev, but came to the room with Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov a little earlier. In a previous interview, he recalled his encounter with Islam: “I found myself in the room a little earlier than Islam, in 2007, and he came in 2008. But he knew Abdulmanap before me , because Khabib studied in the same school as him. I’m a little older than him, by a few months. And I remember we had a funny incident: Islam came to the first practice. And I’ve been there before. He said to me: “Let’s fight with you. » I say, “Come on. » I thought: I’m a beginner, now I will deploy it with confidence. But Islam always fought well and crushed me itself.

This time Islam Makhachev began training in Kislovodsk and with him were Ulanbekov and Aliskerov, who joined the team a little later. Here’s what we’re talking about:

— Was this gathering more for Islam Makhachev or so that everyone could start preparing?

“For everyone,” explains Ikram Aliskerov, “there were four of us, exactly whose fights were assigned.” We fought a lot. The gathering was therefore beneficial for everyone.

— Fighters of different weight categories can conduct fights and fights to feel each other’s strength or speed (Aliskerov competes in the category up to 84 kg, Ulanbekov – up to 56 kg, Makhachev – up to 70 kg). Are clashes possible between you and Islam?

Aliskerov: “We did not stand up, but we fought. Yes, such work proves mutually beneficial. You fight with small, fast guys and you get used to the speed and movement. In turn, we help them grow physically because we are bigger.

Oulanbekov: “We can get up easily, make tags easily or fight easy. But where can I fully train with him: in the off-season he weighs about 80-81 kg, I weigh 58-59 kg.

Tagir Ulanbekov: “I did not beat Islam by running”

— Khabib Nurmagomedov was present at this training. Describe to an outsider what it means when Khabib trains?

— When Khabib is at the gym, everyone is in the mood to work hard. No one in the room can argue, talk, laugh, etc. during these two hours. Everyone just focuses on the training process.

— Did Khabib train this hard when he was a fighter? Or is he now pushing you really hard, but he hasn’t trained himself like that?

— When he was a fighter, he could probably face us at 70%, since he didn’t have much time to follow us and train. And now he’s already looking at us, he’s not training. And it will immediately help everyone who wants to relax and add exercises.

— Sometimes fighters talk about overtraining. Is it possible to “make up for overtraining” when working under Khabib?

“When we already feel that we are training too much, we tell him that our situation is such that it is difficult, that it is better to do a little sport in the morning and relax in the hammam in the evening. And he sees it himself too. After all, he has been practicing this sport for 25 years. Khabib sees when an athlete passes the gym and feels good, or when they are overtrained. He can really say: “Rest today, hit the bags, stretch.” » There is no such thing as us plowing, training stupidly and not taking care of our health. So overtraining doesn’t happen to us.

— They say you are a good runner, but on your social networks there is a video from Kislovodsk, where Islam overtakes you by a wide margin. Which one of you is the fastest?

— As far as I can remember, I haven’t beaten Islam in running. I can run on equal terms with him, but in the end my sprint is weak, it’s not enough for me. I can run long distances well and hold on, but when at the end there are 50 to 100 meters left, he sprints and I can’t keep up with him.

— What do your running exercises look like?

– All this is done for cardio, running strengthens the heart to be able to cover long distances. But we have different periods, because we work more on explosions: when you fight, you have to explode for 30 seconds, then move for 30 seconds.

— Have I understood correctly, these are not too long distances? So you don’t practice running 10 kilometers?

– No, we are not marathon runners to run 10 kilometers every day. Sometimes we can run 3-4 kilometers, but mostly sprints. Or, they might let you run five kilometers at high speed. We have one such rider, Sharip Zainukov. He has now covered 40 kilometers during training camp. But they gave him motivation: he left this training camp with a positive result.

— Javier Mendez said Khabib and Islam don’t play tricks on each other. Are they not going in because of the risk of injury or are they just technically incapable of catching up?

– No, it’s not traumatic. It’s just that when you’ve been fighting the same guy for 20 years, you already know what he’s going to do, where you’re going to go. Counterattacks, all the little things, so it can be very difficult to entrust someone with a painful or technical action in the gym.

Ikram Aliskerov: “No one believed in Khabib after the first fight either”

— Islam had evidence of a staph infection on his leg. Have you had anything similar, tell me how much does this affect you?

— I didn’t have staphylococcus so much as an infection: a small wound on my arm. And during the flight to the United States, it became very swollen and inflamed. I took antibiotics for a week, but the infection didn’t go away. The UFC doctor then told me that if I continued to take antibiotics, the consequences would be very serious. And I rested to let my hand heal. But I still felt that after antibiotics the body was not yet able to give its best, they killed all the bacteria inside – both harmful and beneficial.

— Islam said he doesn’t take antibiotics, but does it have such a big impact?

“I don’t want to mislead you, but it will probably take you three or four weeks to come to your senses.” Although I have heard of cases where people recovered within a year or two. For example, our American Top Team wrestling coach told me that his knee was so inflamed that after taking antibiotics, it took him two years to recover.

— You crossed paths with Islam within the Russian national combat sambo team. How then do you remember him from the outside?

“We were young at the time, but what always set him apart was that he was determined, strong physically and mentally. It’s just possible that after his first MMA fight, no one believed in Khabib that he would become a champion. Everyone thought the UFC was incredibly competitive. But the boys did everything and became the best, we must give them credit for that.

— I have heard that Islam has always been very disciplined. Even among those who are considered disciplined?

– So that there would be neither a step to the left nor a step to the right. But everyone on the team showed discipline. We couldn’t be a minute late to practice or we would be punished. Therefore, everyone had discipline.

— Islam made a very nice takedown in the fifth round: he picked up Dustin Poirier’s leg and turned him around. Does he do that in training?

– It’s rather a stone’s throw from the Wushu-Sanda base, the Sandaists do it. This shows the level of Islam, so it can overthrow and strangle, it is the highest level. No one knew such a withdrawal existed, but he showed it to the world. I saw it and they did it in training, but not many people in the world knew this technique.

— You saw it in training, will it be a problem for Islam Makhachev to move into the under 77 kg category and take the belt there?

— In terms of physical qualities, Islam is certainly not inferior to welterweights. I don’t know how he will approach a particular fight, but in general he will overcome that obstacle. I base that on who he trains and how he trains. The boy is physically very strong.

Live broadcasts of mixed martial arts tournaments can be seen on and Match! Fighter”, as well as on the sites matchtv.ru and sportbox.ru.

More sports news in our telegram channel .