Khabib on Lex Fridman: Why Grappling Is Mental Destruction

Speaker 0:00 All right, we're training with Khabib today, one of the greatest fighters of all time, a great human being. It's honestly unbelievable that I have the honor to be able to train with these guys today. I trained with the team yesterday as well. Feel a bit beat up. I, uh, actually, before this, texted George, GSP, asking if he has any advice. I told him I'm training with Khabib. He said, uh, "If you die, you die." Uh, thank you very much for that advice, George. I love you, brother. You can tell on these mats, it has been champion, after champion, after champion. You can feel the history. I'm gonna do a podcast with Khabib tomorrow, so this is epic. I'm, uh, I'm the luckiest kid in the world, so... All right, now we're gonna get back to training. Let's go.

Speaker 0:45 Yes, yes. How are you, my friend?

Speaker 0:47 Hey.

Speaker 0:48 How you doing? [laughing] This is my brother, Khabib. He is my friend.

Speaker 0:54 Hey there, brother. I was like, "Is that Lex Fridman?" Nice to meet you.

Speaker 0:58 Wait?

Speaker 0:58 Yes.

Speaker 0:59 Uh-

Speaker 1:00 Brother, tomorrow, training with him.

Speaker 1:03 Got it.

Speaker 1:03 Eight morning. Hey, same energy. [laughing]

Speaker 1:04 [laughing] He's always got a smile.

Speaker 1:07 ...

Speaker 1:18 You got some of the greatest of all time on the mat right now. You got Alex, Khabib, Amanda.

Speaker 1:22 Talking, he's gonna win. Just be quiet and go to the mats.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 1:26 Walk, walk, walk, walk, walk. [feet stomping] Go on the wall. On the wall. Ready? Ready. Go! [feet stomping] Walking. Go, go, go, go, go, go. Don't go, don't go, don't go. [feet stomping] Go, go, go, go. You touch wrong leg.

Speaker 2:16 That?

Speaker 2:17 Which leg do I need to touch? Help me. [laughing]

Speaker 2:21 [laughing]

Speaker 2:22 That's cheating.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 2:25 So, so-

Speaker 2:26 He try, [laughing] he tried to run like- He tried to run like nothing. I hold his legs. [laughing]

Speaker 2:35 This is not gonna end well. [feet stomping] This is heavy. Let's call it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 2:57 Don't tell, mate.

Speaker 2:58 [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 3:00 Hold on, man. [feet stomping]

Speaker 3:42 I can't do it either. [feet stomping] This right here, this pressure is fucking insane.

Speaker 5:03 Let me know if you try.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 5:04 If you don't give your brother, he gonna go and do the podcast. He say, "You give me submission." [laughing]

Speaker 5:15 [coughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 5:17 ... [feet stomping]

Speaker 5:29 Huh?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 5:37 ...

Lex Fridman 6:06 ... And you know, what is this? Yes or no? Mmm? I feel like a white belt. [laughing]

6:33 What's your jiu-jitsu? White belt, right?

6:35 Yeah, white belt.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 6:37 Jiu-jitsu, sambo.

Lex Fridman 6:39 Jiu-jitsu. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 6:41 Good point.

Lex Fridman 6:42 Good point.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 6:42 Sambo, they have belt.

Lex Fridman 6:44 Yeah, must have a school.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 6:45 They have b- no, no belt, no belt.

Lex Fridman 6:47 They have, uh, they have, uh, levels.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 6:50 Oh, yeah, yeah.

Lex Fridman 6:51 They have levels, but not, not belts.

6:54 Did you get them for competing?

6:55 Yeah, certainly.

6:59 Yeah, I was right?

7:01 Yes. [laughing]

7:03 I told him, these guys are not gonna try to submit you. They're gonna make you suffer. You don't try to submit people. It's just ground, you ground, you ground.

Speaker 7:10 It's like the pressure. It's like, like you're gonna be stressed, like the pressure, you know? Khabib with you, like, like pressure, pressure, pressure, and you want to lose the problem. You're like, "Ah! Ah!" [laughing]

Lex Fridman 7:25 Yeah, I scream inside my brain. [laughing]

7:43 John Smith, no single. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 7:53 First round. First round.

Lex Fridman 8:07 One and a half minute.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:09 No, we go five.

Lex Fridman 8:10 Five minutes?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:11 Yes. From the beginning, one more. This time, I'm gonna make you... How was it? Good.

Lex Fridman 8:26 I, I shouldn't have gone with him.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:30 That's good.

Lex Fridman 8:31 Was it just this?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:35 Uh, no, I'm heavy, first of all.

Lex Fridman 8:39 Amazing training partner.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:41 No, no, but no injury.

Lex Fridman 8:42 No injury.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:43 No injury, but the heavy.

Lex Fridman 8:44 Just heavy.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 8:44 Stay heavy, stay heavy, stay heavy out here.

Lex Fridman 8:47 Quick shout out to LMNT. Thank you for supporting this video. LMNT is my go-to zero sugar electrolyte drink, and has been for many years. I bring these, uh, LMNT packets everywhere I go. Uh, it helps me replenish electrolytes I lose in training and fasting. Check them out in the description, drinklmnt.com/lex. All right, now back to training

Lex Fridman 9:11 with Khabib.

Speaker 9:12 Teach me some wrestle.

Lex Fridman 9:14 Anything.

Speaker 9:15 Huh?

Lex Fridman 9:15 I'm here.

Speaker 9:16 All right. Oh, take a photo! [laughing]

Lex Fridman 9:20 Legend.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 9:21 Try.

Lex Fridman 9:22 Oh.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 9:23 Try.

Lex Fridman 9:23 I try. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 9:25 It's okay, go.

Lex Fridman 9:35 Okay, guys, finish, finish. [laughing] No, no, finish. Keep going, keep going.

Speaker 9:43 [laughing] It's very good

Speaker 9:46 to see you. [clapping]

Lex Fridman 9:52 Thank you.

Speaker 9:53 Thank you. Thanks for go again.

Lex Fridman 10:03 That's got to. [laughing] That's for a champ. [whistle blowing] Wrong leg. You did the wrong leg.

10:11 Now we're beginning. Hey, this go up, okay?

Speaker 10:18 Try, try. Nice. Be careful.

Lex Fridman 11:16 Let's go. [panting] Let's go, Mitch. Let's go, Mitch.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 12:04 Alex, you're fucking standing wrong. You're looking me.

Lex Fridman 12:07 Go on.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 12:08 It's not a-

12:15 ... You understand?

12:16 Yeah.

12:17 Squeeze with legs. Now, for example, you move, move. Don't go down.

12:27 It's all this.

12:28 Yeah.

12:28 Yeah. Nothing here.

12:36 That's it. Let's go. Let's go, bro. Push up. You sure? Push up, push up. No, don't pull. Here, escape a leg. You understand? Understand. And I pull. Boom, boom. And you just go there. Or this one, but this one is better. But sometime when I wanna put... Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just stay here. Just stay. Just stay. I don't need to do nothing. You have to, you have to spend your energy to get up. You understand? You have to. Why I have to force? Understand? I make you work. I make you work. [laughing] I give you- Hard work, hard work. You come by me, so stay with grappling. You come somewhere.

14:35 Now I understand why people run. Hey, guys, let's go. Oh, there he is again! Get your right arm over around his waist. Get your right arm-

15:11 Oh.

15:14 Hey, I need this done. I need you to understand-

16:09 ... Move, move, move, move. Marty, move. Move, move, move, move, move, Marty, move. Move. Because he gonna run, and he gonna hit. You grapple like wrestling match. This is not grappling. Look this, look this. Oh, oh, no! Look, look, look. Be careful, be careful there. Make video. Be careful, son. Yeah. Hey, be careful. Okay, stop. You grapple like wrestling. It's not wrestling. You're not giving your back all the time. You agree? You're not grappling. Ask how much- It does not matter. No, it doesn't matter. You give your back, you give your back-

17:10 So much pressure. [laughing]

17:12 I never given my back. I never given my back. You agree or no, understand? Agree or no? You cannot do this. I didn't give him my back. You gave him his back.

17:22 In my eyes, I go crying.

17:29 You cannot-

17:29 You can't tell, but the pressure in the hips is insane.

17:31 You're killing this here. I've been-

17:34 He's singing, too.

17:39 Hip, hip, hip. You understand? Hip, hip. Watch it, watch it, watch it. Watch it. Hey, Marty, move! Move, move, move. Hey, move.

18:03 He works for yours.

18:05 Hey, you need to move, brother. He gonna hit you. Thank you so much.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 18:09 He gonna give you same position. You know, I want him feel pressure, because I play, he play. Yeah, yeah. He can play with anybody, anytime. But I go-

18:20 ... I want show him little bit, uh, like pressure, you understand? Pressure. Uh, scramble after scramble, scramble after scramble, and I put him in my position there.

Lex Fridman 18:30 But you know what interesting? Many guys stop. You do never stop. You keep going.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 18:34 [laughing]

Lex Fridman 18:34 You're not brother, you, you're real one.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 18:37 But, but, but he feel, he feel, he feels-

Lex Fridman 18:39 I feel, uh, psychologically chewed up right now. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 18:42 Yeah.

Lex Fridman 18:44 [laughing] All my life with you, all my life I feel psychologically, I can't want to give up. [laughing] He don't give you a tap. He don't tap you. He keep going. Sometime you tap, and he say, "Start."

Khabib Nurmagomedov 18:56 Mental smash. Mental smash.

Lex Fridman 18:58 Has anyone ever done that to you, the last time?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:01 Izme no.

Lex Fridman 19:02 Maybe when you were a kid?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:05 [exhaling] You know, since when I was, uh, 18, 19, I was, I wa- I always was against, uh, high-level guys.

Lex Fridman 19:13 Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:14 Because in my gym, I have, uh, always high-level guys with who I grew up.

Lex Fridman 19:18 Brother-

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:19 But the ground game-

Lex Fridman 19:19 So they're always-

19:20 Brother, I learned 12 years.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:22 Ground game.

Lex Fridman 19:22 This is true. I never see somebody passes guard or tap.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:26 Sometimes, sometimes in gym, I just come, change clothes. Sometimes we go one and a half hour non-stop. One twenty, one ten, one hour, one and a half hour, more than one hour, non-stop. Maybe changing four or five opponents. Ten, 15 minute, another guy. Ten, 15 minute, another guy.

Lex Fridman 19:45 You keep going.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:45 I keep going.

Lex Fridman 19:47 Wow!

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:47 I, I used to it, like, long time, long time.

Lex Fridman 19:50 And what happens to you mentally then?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 19:52 Mentally, in my mind, I was, like, thinking how, how somebody can make me tired, make me tired?

Lex Fridman 19:58 Oh, so you wanted to go on-

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:00 Keep going, all my life, keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. That's it. Yeah, keep going.

Lex Fridman 20:06 You know, uh, you know Dan Gable, the wrestler?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:08 Uh-huh. Olympic champion?

Lex Fridman 20:10 Yeah. He, he said, he always said that in practice, he wanted to go until he quits, and he never got there. He kept trying.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:17 That's why he's the best. He was Olympic... He is Olympic champion.

Lex Fridman 20:20 Olympic champion, yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:20 I just come back from, uh, training camp.

Lex Fridman 20:23 Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:23 I have training camp in Dubai.

Lex Fridman 20:24 Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:24 I have 25 people. They know, I every day, I go, morning and night, morning and night, and all are champions. Big, big names, you know?

Lex Fridman 20:33 How do you feel?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:33 I love it. No, my body is very good.

Lex Fridman 20:35 Good.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:36 My body feel very good. Sometime for, some, sometime when I travel for one week-

Lex Fridman 20:41 Yes

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:41 ... I feel so bad because I can only run and lift, because there is no sparring partner.

Lex Fridman 20:46 Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:46 And I miss it so much.

Lex Fridman 20:48 I can tell you still, you still love it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:50 I love it.

Lex Fridman 20:50 Like, I can feel it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:51 No, no, no, I love it.

Lex Fridman 20:52 It's awesome. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:53 Now I'm gonna go-

Lex Fridman 20:54 Oh, no. Oh, no.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:55 Be careful. Be careful with this.

Lex Fridman 20:58 Be careful?

Khabib Nurmagomedov 20:59 [speaking foreign language] Be careful, hey, hey, hey!

21:00 A lot of pressure?

Lex Fridman 21:02 I know it's a lot of pressure, but it's a huge honor, man.

21:05 I'll just say one thing. This witness, this witness, when I go with him, he don't let me get up. I'm all the time in this position. [laughing]

21:13 Oh, my shrimp!

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:15 Right here, not here.

Lex Fridman 21:16 Oh, yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:19 Here, here. Because if you escape here-

Lex Fridman 21:21 Yeah

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:21 ... no, wait, here. Escape.

Lex Fridman 21:26 Yeah.

21:27 There's no way, man. [grunting]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:33 Let me up.

Lex Fridman 21:35 [laughing] I know! [laughing] He's not small guy anymore.

21:41 No, he feel like 280 pounds. [laughing]

21:44 This is, it's incredible, man.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:47 That's shooting around with Michael Jordan.

Lex Fridman 21:48 It's Mi- it's shooting with Michael Jordan, yeah. One, it's like one-on-one basketball at night with Michael Jordan.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:54 Yeah, in the YMCA. [laughing]

Lex Fridman 21:56 Yeah, in the YMCA. [laughing]

Khabib Nurmagomedov 21:58 Thank you, brother. Thank you. It was good job.

Lex Fridman 22:00 Downstairs.

Khabib Nurmagomedov 22:01 Tomorrow-

22:03 We-

22:03 ... tomorrow.

22:04 This one.

22:05 Yeah, we go together, right?

22:07 Yeah.