Yoel Romero Recalls Meeting Khabib Nurmagomedov, Says Makhachkala, Dagestan is “The Best City in The World For Wrestling”

Yoel Romero is one of the most decorated wrestlers to ever cross over into MMA, and recently he weighed-in on why Khabib Nurmagomedov is one of the best wrestlers and grapplers the sport has ever seen.

Romero says Makhachkala, Dagestan is the epicenter of world-class wrestling

Unlike Romero, who is a former Olympic Silver Medalist wrestler and world champion for Cuba, Nurmagomedov didn’t come up through the wrestling ranks. The UFC’s lightweight champ transitioned into MMA through Sambo and Judo, and over the years, he’s established a reputation as one of the best wrestlers MMA has ever seen. In fact, many have argued Nurmagomedov is the best wrestler in the sport to date.

Well, recently Romero attended a media luncheon, in advance of his bout this Saturday with middleweight champ, Israel Adesanya, While talking about Khabib’s galaxy class, wrestling pedigree, Romero said the following (quotes via MMA Fighting):

“I don’t know if you know but the best for you, for everybody, for the world, the best city in the world for wrestling is Makhachkala, Dagestan,” said Romero, who will fight Adesanya at UFC 248 in Las Vegas on Saturday. “This place, everybody.”

“I stayed for three months in this city when I was wrestling. I stayed three months in Dagestan. All in my division, six or seven world champions in Dagestan. Those six people for one of them to come out on top for the world championships or the Olympic games. You can’t imagine — six people, [all] world champions but you have that many people [to train with].”

Ya. There’s no question that Dagestan has developed plenty of ridiculously talented wrestlers and fighters over the years. In the case of Khabib, what makes his wrestling so awe-inspiring his ability to chain together various shots, throws and trips. In other words, his takedown attempts don’t just stop at say, a double leg or single leg. Case in point, this is the man who took Abel Trujillo down 21 times in one bout…

Romero recalls meeting Khabib

During the luncheon, Romero also shared an interesting story, about the first time he met Nurmagomedov.

“I remember the first time when I saw him, he was in the United States, was at my first fight,” Romero recalled. “I finish the win, he went ‘hey Yoel, you remember me?’ and I said ‘no, who are you?’ He said ‘I am Khabib Nurmagomedov, I see you the first time when you stayed in Dagestan, a big tournament and I saw you and I was only 14 years old.’ I said, ‘oh really?’

“And he said ‘now I stay here, now I am a fighter for the UFC. I said ‘oh congratulations.’”

There you have it. Nurmagomedov, meanwhile, is booked to fight Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 on April 18th. The card will take place in Brooklyn, New York.