Khabib Nurmagomedov is widely considered one of the greatest fighters of all-time, but it turns out he also deserves credit as a master strategist.
Back in 2019, the undefeated Russian was preparing for the second defense of his UFC lightweight title with a showdown against interim champion Dustin Poirier. At the time, Poirier was undefeated in six consecutive fights, which included notable wins over Justin Gaethje, Eddie Alvarez, and Max Holloway.
While he’s best known as a lethal striker, Poirier also employs an impressive ground game when necessary, but his go-to submission has always been the guillotine choke. Despite never actually finishing an opponent in a professional bout with it, Poirier stays committed to the guillotine choke — and Nurmagomedov knew that fact heading into UFC 242.
“It was all my training camp when I’m going to try to take him down, his right hand guillotine is very good,” Nurmagomedov explained on the Inspire Me podcast. “He always try this. Not left hand — right hand. Because he’s a southpaw, he takes with right hand and he moves his hips. I know because I’m orthodox with [my] right hand but I like to choke people with left hand. I knew he was going to try to choke me with [his] right hand.
“First time I [gave it to him], he don’t take. The second time when he take this, I let him choke me, he goes to maximum, I changed my body. I came back, I [gave it to] him because I tried to make him tired.”
Nurmagomedov acknowledges that allowing Poirier to sink in his guillotine choke was a risky maneuver, but he also felt that was his best path to victory.
With Poirier so committed to the submission, Nurmagomedov just had to relax, find his escape, and then he’d have an exhausted opponent underneath him.
“It was my plan, but it was a very dangerous plan,” Nurmagomedov said. “Because you have to be careful. Maybe you think he’s not choking you and you can go to sleep. After that, when I escaped, I understand he’s finished. I take his back and I choke him out.”
Skill for skill, Nurmagomedov was always one of the most ferocious competitors whenever he set foot in the UFC octagon, but that night Poirier was actually fighting a much tougher, uphill battle when it came to pulling off the upset.
The fight took place in Abu Dhabi, which meant Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap was able to participate in his training camp and work in his son’s corner for one of the biggest fights of his career.
“I was thinking about Dustin, I think this guy is crazy,” Nurmagomedov said. “He thinks I’m going to tap in front of my father? [The guillotine choke attempt] was very close to father, I remember. I changed my hips, escaped, come out.”
For all the big wins in his career, Nurmagomedov says that performance against Poirier might be his favorite thanks to his father being in attendance to coach him in those final days before successfully defending his UFC lightweight title.
“I think it was my best time,” Nurmagomedov said. “Because my father was with me all my training camp, when I cut weight, when I was backstage before I go to the cage, when you go to the cage, come out — everywhere, my father was with me. It was the best time in the UFC for me.”
Sadly, Abdulmanap passed away due to complications from COVID in 2020, so that fight against Poirier holds an even bigger place in Nurmagomedov’s heart now, because he was able to share it with his father.
He even remembers a moment when he was able to talk to his father in the corner as he attempted to secure a finish over Poirier.
“I remember all the time, all action, what happened was very close to the cage, it was very close to [my] father in my corner,” Nurmagomedov said. “It was very funny moments. Like first time I take him down, I take his back, I tried to choke him but I cannot, and [my] father told me, ‘Do this, do this, change your hips, change your leg.’
“I remember I tried to choke him the first time but Dustin did a very good job and he escaped, and I looked at father and I said, ‘He’s sleeping?’ or something like this, and father said, ‘No, focus on him, don’t talk with me!’ It was very funny moments.”
