What is Sambo? How did Khabib Nurmagomedov learn to dominate his opponents?

Khabib Nurmagomedov has long been one of the biggest proponents of Sambo. The Russian martial arts form was founded in the 1920s to help the Soviet Red Army improve hand-to-hand combat skills and athleticism for military purposes. Sambo is regarded as one of the most effective martial arts today and is inherent to the cultural heritage of the Soviet Union (now Russia).

The vast majority of combat sports fans and experts regard Sambo as one of the toughest martial arts forms to learn. It's also heralded among the most difficult sports in the world. In fact, such is the challenging nature of Sambo that even durable and gritty martial artists such as Nurmagomedov have been pushed to their limits in the sport, as seen in the video below.

The term Sambo is an acronym for the Russian words 'samozashchita bez oruzhiya' meaning 'self-defense without weapons.' It involves the utilization of a wide variety of grappling and striking techniques to defeat one's opponent.

The grappling maneuvers primarily draw inspiration from freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, and judo. They're used in cohesion with strikes to amplify their efficacy in a fight.

As for the striking maneuvers, they include punches, elbows, kicks, and knees -- similar to striking-centric martial arts such as boxing, kickboxing, Muay Thai, etc. However, owing to the addition of grappling in Sambo, striking techniques tend to be far more effective, as the opponent needs to be wary of both striking and grappling-based attacks from a Sambo fighter.

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Khabib Nurmagomedov craftily blended Sambo techniques with other martial arts to succeed in MMA and the UFC

Khabib Nurmagomedov retired from MMA in October 2020 as the UFC lightweight champion, boasting an undefeated MMA record of 29 wins and 0 losses. While 'The Eagle' has often credited his dominance in MMA to Sambo, many believe that it's his unique ability to blend Sambo techniques with other martial arts that truly set him apart.

One of the most important teachings one can derive from Khabib Nurmagomedov's usage of Sambo skills is the chain takedown strategy and unbreakable mindset -- something that's given prime importance in Sambo.

Nurmagomedov used those Sambo tenets in cohesion with his kickboxing and BJJ (Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu) skills inside the UFC's famed octagon to dominate MMA greats such as Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier.

Khabib Nurmagomedov has always stressed that the disciplined nature of his workouts and lifestyle, something that's commonplace in Sambo training, has helped him stay true to himself in MMA.

Nurmagomedov always respected his Sambo roots, which prevented him from falling in love with his striking, helped him stick to his strength which was his grappling, and enabled the lifelong Sambo savant to dominate his MMA rivals.