UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov gave Tom Aspinall some pieces of advice before the Briton’s heavyweight title defence against Ciryl Gane at UFC 231 in Abu Dhabi.
Aspinall was defending the undisputed belt for the very first time since being promoted to undisputed champion following the retirement of Jon Jones back in June.
The 32-year-old was fighting for the first time in 15 months, having previously knocked out Curtis Blaydes to retain his interim title.
He had spent the last year pursuing a unifying bout with Jones to decide who the ‘Baddest Man on the Planet’ was, but he was not given that opportunity.
Posting a documentary-style behind-the-scenes video to his YouTube channel on Sunday, Aspinall revealed a pre-fight pep talk from Khabib, who offered his insight and expertise before the Brit stepped into the Octagon.
“Small advice. I know I’m not your coach,” Khabib said to Aspinall in his locker room.
“If I’m going to [advise you], use everything that you have. Mix it up. Sometimes you use boxing, separate, wrestling separate. When you use everything together, wrestling, pressure, boxing, everything. Because you don’t have this ability.
“He’ll strike and he’ll move. He has good footwork. Legs, touch, touch. But when you use your hands [when] boxing, and take on pressure, it’s going to be much better.”
The advice would come to nothing in the end, with the fight ended prematurely due to an accidental double-poke in both of Aspinall’s eyes from Gane.
Both fighters were furious when a no contest was declared, with Aspinall furiously lashing out at the crowd’s booing in his post-fight interview.
UFC president Dana White confirmed that a rematch would be arranged, although the outcome of the main event of the evening was a “total pain in the ass”.
Despite the no contest, Aspinall will retain his undisputed title, despite being on the back foot for the first four minutes of the opening round against the French veteran Gane.
