Khabib Nurmagomedov- MILITAR MINDSET
Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the greatest martial artists of the modern-day. Many people regard him as the greatest mixed martial artist of all time!
Amassing a perfect record of 29-0 (no one goes undefeated in MMA, it is a rare sight!), Khabib will most definitely be in the history books. Prior to his MMA career, Khabib trained in wrestling under the tutelage of his father at a young age.
As he grew older, his father would train him in different art forms such as Judo and Sambo. Most notably, Khabib would compete in Sambo where he became a 2-time world champion in the combat sport.
Khabib would reach the pinnacle of MMA in 2018, when he became the UFC lightweight world champion, defeating Al Iaquinta. Khabib’s stardom only rose from there, making 3 title defences against the best in the world, with each performance surpassing the last.
On top of the pound for pound rankings, Khabib decided to walk away from the sport on top. On the 24th October 2020, Khabib would officially retire from the sport after defeating Justin Gaethje to retain his title.
Not only is he a great martial artist, he is an entrepreneur and has been involved with many different charitable causes. At just the age of 32, Khabib is already an iconic figure. He has shown us that he has the MILITAR MINDSET!
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How has Khabib displayed the MILITAR MINDSET?
Khabib has a clear and strong MINDSET. Raised in the mountains of Dagestan, Khabib was taught discipline from a young age.
Khabib started training in martial arts at the tender age of 5 after being introduced to it by his father, Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, who has now sadly passed. Abdulmanap was a renowned coach in the area, having taught and learnt many different arts himself.
He was a veteran in the Soviet army, where he learnt Sambo and Judo. Just like Khabib, Abdulmanap also wrestled as a child! At a young age Khabib would see his father coaching the youth in Dagestan.
As Khabib grew older, his father would introduce him to different arts such as Judo and Sambo. It was Sambo where a young Khabib would find the most success, winning back to back world championships in 2009 and 2010.
Khabib actually had his MMA debut in 2008, but it wasn’t till after his Sambo days, that he fully dedicated himself to MMA. Khabib would go on a tear, going 16-0, finishing the majority of his opponents within the distance.
It was then in 2012 that Khabib would get the call up to the UFC. He knew upon entering the UFC he wanted to go all the way and become a champion!
Similarly to Bruce Lee, Khabib understands the importance of knowledge and educating himself. He believes we can always learn something new each day. He applied this to his martial arts career by constantly training to improve his game.
Outside of the octagon Khabib has also been able to apply this same philosophy. Despite being very successful in MMA and already having wealth, he still continues to learn. He has recently just completed a degree at the Plekhanov Russian University of Economics!
Khabib believes we can always improve ourselves and learn more no matter how successful we are. Khabib shows us that we can achieve whatever we set our mind to.
Educate yourself as best as you can on what you want to achieve. Constantly work on it. This will give you the best chance of success!
Khabib has INSPIRED millions already!
Khabib has been able to INSPIRE so many people already. When Khabib defeated Al Iaquinta at UFC 223 in 2018, he didn’t just become a UFC champion. He became the first ever Muslim UFC champion.
As shown in the header image Khabib said ‘I don’t fight for the money. I fight for legacy. I fight for history. I fight for my people’. Khabib is of Dagestani heritage and represents his people.
When entering the octagon, he always wore the ‘papakha’, a hat displaying his cultural pride! He was able to inspire his native people by proudly representing them, showing them their dreams are possible.
After the emergence and success of Khabib, many more talented Dagestani fighters have come through the ranks. He has now transitioned into a coach and mentor for many fighters.
Khabib trains and teaches the fighters, helping them to accomplish their own dreams. As stated before, Khabib became the first ever Muslim UFC champion!
He inspires Muslims around the world and showed them if you wanted to become a UFC champion, you could. Muslims worldwide then realised that this goal was achievable as Khabib had demonstrated it to them.
Khabib has now become a pioneer in the sport especially in this demographic working with Muslim countries such as in the middle east.
Inspiring people to achieve their dreams in mixed martial arts. Khabib has also inspired the people of Russia, becoming one of the first Russian UFC champions too! He is currently the most followed Russian on Instagram!
Khabib hasn’t just inspired Muslims and Russians, but people of all religions and races. Khabib said ‘Climb the mountain so you can see the world, not so the world can see you.’ Here Khabib is showing us to aspire to achieve our dreams so we can get the best out of our lives.
If you don’t enjoy what you do, you won’t be happy. Happiness is the key to success!
Khabib inspired us by showing us what hard work and dedication can do. Even if it has never been done before, that doesn’t make it impossible. This should inspire you even more to achieve it!
Khabib has LIMITLESS belief in his own achievement
Khabib in his last octagon interview said that he was ‘just a simple guy from a village in the mountains’ and that ‘no one believed in him’ . Khabib was LIMITLESS in what he believed he could achieve.
Born in Sil’di, Russia, Khabib was never thought of as being the next superstar in UFC and across the globe. He came from a place where the population is just a mere few hundred people!
This didn’t stop Khabib from aiming for the absolute pinnacle of his dreams. Khabib had huge belief in himself even when no one else did (of course except for his father who always believed in him).
With this belief and dedication, Khabib was able to aim high and turn his dreams into a reality. Khabib is the only UFC champion to retire undefeated!
Once winning the belt in 2018, Khabib went onto defend his belt 3 times. He defeated huge names in the division, all great fighters in their own right, Conor McGregor, Dustin Poirier and Justin Gaethje.
Each performance was better than the last, as he finished them all within the distance! Here we learn, that you should always aim for the highest of your dreams. Be limitless. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t. How will you ever know if you don’t aim for it?
How did Khabib find INNER-PEACE?
Khabib was able to find his INNER-PEACE in his religion, Islam. Khabib is a devout Muslim. Khabib was raised this way by his father and taught to teach all with respect.
Trash talk is popular amongst fighters today to promote themselves and to hype up fights. Khabib never trash talked his opponents. He always respected each opponent.
The only time things got a little heated was when Khabib faced McGregor in 2018 in the biggest event the UFC has ever had. There was real bad blood there! Other than this anomaly, Khabib got on well with his fellow fighters and they all respected him.
Khabib showed us to always stay true and be yourself. As Khabib rose in popularity, he didn’t allow fame or money to change who he was as a person.
He stuck to his principles and morals. Khabib taught us that you should never change who you are and be true to yourself. This will help you find your own inner-peace.
Khabib has shown us how TIME is important
Khabib is a patient individual who really understands the importance of TIME. He is a huge believer in things happening for a reason. He doesn’t question anything that happens and accepts it.
Back in 2014, after a dominant Victory over Rafael Dos Anjos, Khabib was stepping closer towards his dream of becoming a UFC champion. That all fell apart when Khabib suffered some serious injuries that ultimately side-lined him for nearly 2 years.
This wasn’t easy for Khabib, as he wasn’t sure if he would make it back to the octagon. But he gave things time. He allowed himself to recover properly. During this time, he stayed mentally strong while he physically recovered.
He came back in 2016, defeating Darrell Horcher in the 2nd round via TKO! He continued to defeat opponents and rise up the ranks once again, 2 years later in 2018 he was the UFC champion!
Khabib tells us ‘Only the passion for the dreams, courage to pursue them, determination to succeed, turns them into reality.’ Teaching us that we must be passionate and determined to achieve our goals.
Khabib’s road to becoming the champion was tough, but he never gave up, being patient and continuing to work hard.
Khabib shows us that no matter how bad a circumstance we may be in, we must be patient as there is always a way for us to reach our goals.
It may be a rocky path to reach your goals. But ultimately the adversity you face and overcome will make you stronger in the long term!
Khabib is always ACTIVE
Khabib always likes to stay busy and keep ACTIVE. Even when not training, Khabib has many other things that motivate him, keeping him occupied.
Khabib said ‘My life consists of training, religion, sleep and meals.’ As well as training and making sure he is healthy, Khabib is very religious and likes to spend his time growing closer to God.
Outside of training he also likes to spend his time with family in Dagestan. He is also heavily involved in training other MMA fighters and cornering them, such as the rising UFC star Islam Makhachev.
Khabib is also an entrepreneur who is working on many different projects. He recently acquired an MMA organisation, which he has rebranded, calling it Eagle Fighting Championship.
He aims to help the next crop of MMA talent solidify their own legacies and achieve their dreams of becoming champions. Another dream of his is to bring MMA to the Olympics, which he is working on making a reality!
Khabib achieved his main goal of becoming a UFC champion, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have other dreams to achieve…Khabib is always active and looking for ways to improve everything he is involved in.
You must always stay active to reach your goals. Procrastination won’t help you achieve your goals…so make sure your always stepping closer towards them!
Khabib is RELENTLESS!
Khabib can be described in just one word. RELENTLESS. Many people like to describe Khabib’s fighting style like this. He is always pressuring opponents and looking to take them to the ground!
Khabib is seen as an unstoppable force in the octagon, having never been defeated in his MMA career. But Khabib wasn’t always like this. There was a time when he was younger when he always used to lose…Yes Khabib used to lose too!
These losses didn’t break him. They showed him what he needed to improve and allowed him to become what he is today. Khabib didn’t give up. He was relentless in his training.
Khabib stated ‘I don’t just want to be just like champion, I want to be like the greatest champion in the lightweight division.’ Showing us his intentions from the start.
He always wanted to cement his legacy as the best ever, so he had to be relentless to achieve this. Putting in the extra hours of training, never giving up his ultimate goal.
You can apply this to everything. When on your mission to your goals there will be hurdles to overcome. There will be losses. But ultimately these losses help you become better and grow as a person. Be relentless!
Khabib is a special individual. He will go down as one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. We can learn from how he conducts himself and what he has overcome to reach the goals he has on our own missions.
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