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Khabib Nurmagomedov’s team paid a hefty price to ready Islam Makhachev for his first UFC lightweight title shot earlier today (Sat., Oct. 22, 2022) at UFC 280 live on ESPN+ PPV from inside Etihad Arena on “Fight Island” in Abu Dhabi. Luckily, Makhachev cashed in and submitted Charles Oliveira in the main event to claim the 155-pound championship.
Nurmagomedov, who retired from fighting two years ago, has been dedicating almost all of his recent time to coaching. This includes taking a long-time teammate and friend like Makhachev and helping him prepare for Oliveira. After all, this was the biggest fight of Makhachev’s career and a chance for him to win the same title Khabib relinquished following his retirement back in Oct. 2020.
Unfortunately for Nurmagomedov and company, Makhachev’s fight camp for UFC 280 was not a cheap one. In fact, it cost Team Khabib a pretty penny to properly prepare Makhachev to go against a former champion like Oliveira, who was riding an 11-fight win streak dating back to 2017.
UFC color commentator, Daniel Cormier, revealed during Makhachev’s walk to the Octagon that Team Khabib spent nearly $1 million to prepare Islam for UFC 280. That’s an incredible amount of money, especially considering Makhachev already hails from one of the best gyms in the world. Khabib clearly pulled out all the stops to ensure that Makhachev walked away with the undisputed UFC lightweight title in front of a friendly Abu Dhabi crowd.
While Khabib’s investment paid off in the best way possible the former UFC champion isn’t going to let Makhachev off the hook anytime soon. After his main event victory over Oliveira, Makhachev revealed that Nurmagomedov is only giving him two weeks rest before they start training again.
“Two weeks rest…if you want to be P4P!”
For complete UFC 280 results and coverage click here.