Khabib Didn't Armbar Justin Gaethje On Saturday Because He "Didn't Want To Hurt Him In Front Of His Parents"

Craaaazy story from Daniel Cormier here, where he says that his teammate Khabib told him that he transitioned from the armbar (his father's favorite submission) to a triangle choke on Saturday night because he had heard Gaethje say in pre-fight interviews that he would never tap, and Khabib "didn't want to hurt him in front of his parents" who were on Fight Island. 

So rather than snap his arm off as a tribute to his father, he slipped in a triangle and put Gaethje to sleep (even though Gaethje did eventually tap, the ref just weirdly missed it) for a more peaceful finish. Kinda fucking insane stuff to be thinking about in the middle of one of the biggest fights of your life, but that's Khabib for ya. 

Dude used to basically have full conversations with his opponents/their corners while mauling them....

He pretty much made everyone he ever fought look like his little brother taking an ass whooping they badly deserved, and in the most insulting/disrespectful way possible. 

There was definitely a level of respect for Gaethje tho, with how quickly he ended it once they his the canvas. 

There was no ground and pound, no mauling, no smeshing - just a quick triangle choke submission for the final win of Nurmagomedov's career. It almost looked like he just wanted to get it over with, and hey - maybe he did.

Advertisement

The Eagle is free to fly now.