Zubaira Tukhugov says Khabib Nurmagomedov trains twice a day and is in tremendous shape, claiming Khabib would barely feel Sean Strickland and would take him down and dominate. Tukhugov also confirmed he is set to compete in a grappling match against Elvis Brener at ACB JJ in Moscow on July 5. He addressed his long-running standoff with Artem Lobov, saying Lobov has gone quiet and no longer responds to messages, and singled out Arman Tsarukyan as the one genuinely competitive grappling opponent he'd like to face in the future.
Zubaira Tukhugov has weighed in on a hypothetical matchup between retired pound-for-pound great Khabib Nurmagomedov and current middleweight champion Sean Strickland, offering a blunt assessment that favors his longtime teammate.
Tukhugov told interviewers that Nurmagomedov is training twice a day and is in tremendous physical condition. He predicted Khabib would barely feel Strickland before taking him down and, in Tukhugov's words, starting to dominate and dismantle him entirely.
Khabib Nurmagomedov, 37, retired from competition with a perfect 29-0 record and built his legacy largely on a ferocious wrestling game. His numbers back that reputation: he averaged 5.32 takedowns per 15 minutes across his career, with a striking accuracy of 48 percent and 4.1 significant strikes landed per minute. The Russian stood five-foot-ten with a 70-inch reach.
Sean Strickland, 35, holds the middleweight title and carries a 31-7 record. "Tarzan" is a high-volume striker who lands 6.04 significant strikes per minute, though his takedown defense and grappling credentials are considerably more modest, averaging just 0.71 takedowns per 15 minutes offensively. The six-foot-one American fights out of Xtreme Couture with a 76-inch reach.
Tukhugov also confirmed his own competitive plans, revealing he is scheduled to compete in a grappling match against Elvis Brener at ACB JJ in Moscow on July 5. On a separate front, he addressed the long-running public standoff with Artem Lobov, saying the 39-year-old Irishman has gone quiet and stopped responding to messages. Lobov, a southpaw with a career record of 13-15-1, had been engaged in a back-and-forth with Tukhugov for some time.
Why it matters
- Khabib's name continues to generate headlines despite his retirement, with teammates fueling speculation about his fitness
- Strickland's grappling vulnerabilities are a recurring talking point surrounding his middleweight title reign
- Tukhugov named Arman Tsarukyan as the one genuinely competitive grappling opponent he wants to face, a matchup worth monitoring in the submission grappling space
- The Lobov standoff appears to have cooled without resolution
