In the UFC today there is a lot of talk about fighters who go up weight classes to try to achieve success in two divisions.
Khabib Nurmagomedov has never tried to do this despite his dominance in the lightweight division.
Instead, apart from Tony Ferguson, Nurmagomedov was opposed and defeated the best of the best at 155 pounds before he retired with an undefeated record.
'The Eagle' has still left a remarkable legacy, but it is clear that his training partner and lightweight successor have other plans in mind.
Nurmagomedov has expressed his concern about the upcoming move from Islam Makhachev to Welterweight, where he will look to achieve something that his coach did not try.
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Javier Mendez says that the father of Khabib Nurmagomedov wanted to see him against Georges St-Pierre
In a recent interview with MMA Junkie, Javier Mendez was asked if there was ever a lecture about Khabib Nurmagomedov who sustained a division.
The AKA head coach has already been in the corner of Daniel Cormier when he successfully won titles in two divisions, and now they will try to do the same with Islam Makhachev.
For Nurmagomedov it was not easy to cut into lightweight, but there was not really a time in his career in which it seemed as if Weltergeweight would be the next step.
Mendez remembers that Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, the father and coach of Khabib who had planned everything, was more focused on dominating the 155-pound division.
However, Mendez also added that there was one fight that could have changed that, where both fans and the Camp Nurmagomedov wanted to see a super fight between 'The Eagle' and the greatest welterweight of all time, Georges St-Pierre.
“From what I remember, the conversations that Khabib and his father had, and this was in Russian, so I was interpreted. His father always wanted him at the age of 155, she did great there. If there was something she was a legacy fight with GSP. His father had GSP and him in mind.”
Javier Mendez believes that Khabib Nurmagomedov could have been a three -weight champion
Khabib Nurmagomedov opposite Georges St-Pierre remains one of those huge dream fights that fans never have seen.
Although it is not clear what weight they would have met, Javier Mendez believes that his hunter should not stop at Welterweight if he didn't want to.
In the same interview, Mendez told MMA Junkie that, in his opinion, Nurmagomedov could have become the first UFC hunter who had belts in three weight classes if that is what his father had wanted for him.
“For me personally as his coach since 2012, my personal feeling is that this man could easily have won the lightweight, what he did, the good weight and the middle weight. I believe he is so good. He would have cleaned the clock on all those three divisions in my heart, which I have seen in my eyes.”