UFC veteran Khabib Nurmagomedov is not a big fan of weightlifting.
Khabib Nurmagomedov is regarded as one of the greatest mixed martial artists. ‘The Eagle’ is undefeated with a total of 29 professional outings, 13 of them were in the UFC.
He won the vacant lightweight belt against Al Iaquinta in 2018 and defended it three times against Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier, and Justin Gaethje before announcing his retirement.
The 34-year-old Dagestani comes from a sambo background, a Russian grappling martial art. Khabib dominated most of his opponents. In his 8 years in the UFC run, he only lost two rounds and barely took a hit.
Khabib Nurmagomedov talked a bit about weightlifting in a recent interview.
Despite being impressively strong and skilled in wrestling, he admitted that he is not really much of a weightlifter and only went up to lifting 120 kg (265 lbs). He also said that he lifted weights mostly just to achieve a muscular look.
“I have never lifted 160 kg. I have lifted 120 kg at maximum. I don’t like this kind of weightlifting. I do it to look like an athlete.” Khabib said.
Khabib went on to detail the kind of exercises he usually does.
“I do classic exercises. Push-ups, deadlifts, jumps, everything that is needed for an athlete. And I do all these exercises on top of the sports to look like one.” Khabib explained.
Weightlifting is optional for mixed martial artists as it can have benefits in improving strengths and overall physics. Some athletes choose to weight lift while others prefer to shape themselves through martial arts training.
Khabib Nurmagomedov retired in 2020. Despite never competing again, he said that he is still regularly training but doesn’t give much attention to his weight.