Khabib Nurmagomedov is regarded as one of the greatest fighters ever and retired from MMA with a stellar 29-0 record, becoming the UFC Lightweight champion in the process. Before this, he was also a Combat Sambo champion, as well as competing in other martial arts and generally being an excellent grappler.
To add to his grappling credentials, he’s also a black belt in Judo as well as having 11 submissions in MMA to his name. Many of these submissions also came from his back, which proves just how versatile the Dagestani fighter is. As a result, this leaves many BJJ fans asking where Khabib is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt. Read on for more information.
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What BJJ belt is Khabib?
This may be surprising to some, but it turns out that Khabib Nurmagomedov is actually a BJJ white belt. Having said this, there’s more to the story and this is more a technicality rather than an actual indication of his skill.
It turns out that although Khabib has grappled for most of his life, he’s never formally been promoted in BJJ. This means that technically, he remains a white belt. Of course, he is still a Judo black belt and an international master of Sambo, which means his grappling skills are sublime. As well, he has also easily out grappled and submitted various BJJ black belts.
What skill level is Khabib in BJJ?
Undoubtedly, Khabib has the skills of a high level BJJ black belt. Over the years, some have even pondered how he would do in ADCC, which is BJJ’s equivalent to the Olympics. As this is a nogi event that emphasizes wrestling, it’s fair to say that Khabib would do well in this environment and his takedowns would score him points. Could the Dagestani avoid leg locks? Who knows…but it would be great to see one day.
As for the gi, Khabib is still incredibly talented and has trained in Judo and Sambo for years which require the jacket. As a result, it’s not like his skills wouldn’t translate to the gi and he would still be a monster. Because of this, it’s fair to say that Khabib would be technically better than most average BJJ black belts and even hang with the very top guys. This shows just how good he is at grappling…both on the floor and standing.
Does Khabib train BJJ?
If you’ve seen Khabib’s ground game, then you’ll understand that he does train BJJ. Whilst Sambo, Judo, and wrestling all train partly on the ground, nothing gives it as much attention as BJJ does. He has even been pictured next to Renzo Gracie after training and Renzo was very complimentary of his skills, adding “Khabib trains Jiu-Jitsu every single day. His Jiu-Jitsu is amazing.” He even went on to say “Elite BJJ is not enough to beat Khabib.” which says it all.
In short, you’d be very naive to believe that Khabib doesn’t train BJJ, or is somehow not very good at it. As the saying goes, the proof is in the pudding, and Khabib has enough proof that he’s got top level BJJ skills.
What does Khabib think of BJJ?
At one weigh in session for MMA, Khabib famously wore a controversial t-shirt, which said “If Sambo was easy, it would be called Jiu Jitsu.” This alludes that Khabib believes that Sambo is superior to BJJ and was quite a shocking statement. However, it turns out that Khabib is actually very complimentary of BJJ…after all he does train it and use it regularly.
Having said this, he has also been realistic and balanced when appraising BJJ. In one interview, Khabib said how BJJ was ‘perfect’ for the ground but also had problems. This is what he said, “Jiu itsu has a very big problem, there are no good takedowns. No good takedowns but on the ground it’s perfect. Jiu Jitsu on the ground is perfect and if you want to begin Jiu Jitsu you need takedowns guys. In Sambo there is very good takedowns, takedown skills and if you have a mix of Combat Sambo plus wrestling this is unstoppable.“
In all fairness, he probably has a point. Too often, BJJ practitioners are too happy to sit to a guard, whereas in an MMA fight this strategy simply isn’t very effective.
Conclusion
For now, Khabib is still a BJJ white belt. However, this is merely in name and title only. If he really wanted, he could possibly get a BJJ black belt within a year due to his elite level grappling skills which is based on his current level of knowledge.
As seen, Khabib trains BJJ regularly and uses it in his fights. Contrary to popular belief, he is also quite complementary to the Brazilian martial art as well.
If you’re a fan of Khabib then check out his famous Papakha hat
