Chechen Black Belt Ayub Magomadov came under fire when it was uncovered he was tapped to help prepare McGregor for the Khabib Nurmagomedov match up.
The post – and Magomadov’s presence at McGregor’s side – stirred considerable anger, with some questioning how a man from Russia’s Chechen Republic could help a future opponent of Dagestan’s Nurmagomedov.
When Magomadov was contacted here’s how he explained his predicament:
“I was contacted by email, through my manager. They were searching for a guy for a sparring session. And that’s it. I arrived there, we did MMA sparring. That was what they wanted me for. So I did my job, and went back to Moscow,”Magomadov told RT Sport.
“To be honest, I wasn’t expecting Conor to post that photo with me. But I wasn’t surprised with that negative reaction – I am an adult man. I would say it felt like a useful experience for me to see the negative side of the situation, to see all those haters around. I have learned a lot from that.”
Magomadov also took the chance to address Russian MMA fans, some of whom offered support, while others sent a barrage of insults on social media.
“I felt like I needed to explain the situation. It was not about doing something wrong and making excuses. Not at all. It is my job, and I am not here to make friends, it is just the fight business. I need to feed my family, and become a better fighter – and I really learned a lot from Conor and his coaches. What if they call me again for a sparring session? – I will do it again. If you want to be a good fighter you need to train with good fighters. And it takes training with great fighters to become a great fighter. So if you have such a great chance you have to go for it. Despite all the negative feedback and haters.”
“Conor is a very respectful and humble guy, without any ‘star fever.’ He was very respectful to me. He was just like a normal guy from the dojo. All the guys from his gym were respectful, were nice. His coach John (Kavanagh) is a nice person. Really nice head of this team, really respectful. It was great to know him.
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