LELex FridmanMar 21, 2026· 22:09

Khabib vs Lex: Training with Khabib | FULL EXCLUSIVE FOOTAGE

Lex Fridman trains with legendary UFC fighter Khabib Nurmagomedov, experiencing his suffocating pressure and grappling dominance. Khabib explains his philosophy of constant pressure and never stopping, revealing how he mentally breaks opponents by making them work. Lex compares it to shooting hoops with Michael Jordan, feeling the weight of a champion's relentless drive.

Transcript

Intro0:00

Lex Fridman0:00

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.

Khabib Nurmagomedov0:46

Yes, yes. How are you, my friend?

Lex Fridman0:48

Hey.

Khabib Nurmagomedov0:48

How you doing? This is my brother Khabib who own this hotel, and he's my friend.

Lex Fridman0:53

Nice to meet you, brother. I was like, "Is that Lex Fridman?" Nice to meet you. Wait?

Khabib Nurmagomedov0:59

Yes.

Lex Fridman0:59

Uh...

Khabib Nurmagomedov1:00

Brother, tomorrow training with him. You come. 8:00 in the morning. Yeah, same energy.

Lex Fridman1:05

He's always got a smile. You got some of the greatest of all time on the mat right now. You got Alex, Khabib, Amanda.

Khabib Nurmagomedov1:23

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

Round One1:23

Khabib Nurmagomedov1:32

Ready? Ready? Go. Go, go, go, go. You touch wrong leg.

Lex Fridman2:17

That? Which leg do I need to touch? Help me.

That's cheating.

Khabib Nurmagomedov2:24

So, so... He tried, he tried to run like... He tried to run like nothing. I hold his legs.

Lex Fridman2:35

This is not gonna end well.

This is heavy.

Let's call it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov2:58

Don't tell, mate.

Hold on, man.

Lex Fridman3:42

I can't

do it either.

This right here, this pressure is fucking insane.

Khabib Nurmagomedov5:03

No, no, no, no. It makes me not get tired. If you don't give your brother, he gonna go and do the podcast. He say, "Rogan is a bitch."

Lex Fridman5:37

Can't breathe in here. Trapped.

Alex6:21

Do you want me to sit here, sit near or sit up?

Lex Fridman6:24

Mm.

Alex6:30

I feel like a white belt.

Lex Fridman6:33

What's your belt, bro? You're a black belt, right?

Alex6:36

Yeah, black belt.

Khabib Nurmagomedov6:37

Jiu-jitsu or Sambo?

Alex6:39

Jiu-jitsu.

Lex Fridman6:41

Good point.

Khabib Nurmagomedov6:42

Sambo don't have belt.

Lex Fridman6:42

Good point.

Khabib Nurmagomedov6:43

Sambo don't have belt.

Alex6:44

They are a master of sport.

Khabib Nurmagomedov6:46

They have b- no, no belt, no belt.

Alex6:48

They have, uh, they have, uh, levels.

Khabib Nurmagomedov6:50

Oh, yeah, yeah.

Alex6:51

They have levels but not, not belts.

Lex Fridman6:55

Did you get them for competing?

Alex6:58

Yeah, certainly.

Lex Fridman7:00

That was great.

Alex7:01

Yeah, it was.

Lex Fridman7:04

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

It's like the pressure. It's like, like you're gonna be stressed, like the pressure, you know? Khabib will give you like, like pressure, you know, pressure, pressure, pressure. And you are like, "Lose the problem." You're like, "Ah, ah." Like me, I, I scream inside my brain.

Alex7:43

John Smith, no single.

Lex Fridman7:47

What?

Alex8:05

First round. First round.

Lex Fridman8:07

One and a half minute.

Alex8:09

No, we go five.

Lex Fridman8:10

Five minute?

Alex8:12

Yes.

From beginning, one more. This time I'm gonna make you run. How is your knee? I, I shouldn't have gone with him today.

Lex Fridman8:28

It's nothing serious.

Alex8:30

That's good.

Lex Fridman8:34

Was it just this?

Alex8:36

Uh, no, I'm heavy, first of all.

Lex Fridman8:39

Amazing training partner.

Alex8:41

No, no, but no injury.

Lex Fridman8:43

No injury.

Alex8:43

No injury, but the heavy.

Lex Fridman8:45

Just heavy.

Alex8:45

Stay heavy, stay heavy, stay heavier.

Lex Fridman8:48

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 with Khabib.

Glover Teixeira9:12

Alex9:12

You wanna teach me some wrestle? Anything.

Lex Fridman9:15

Huh?

Alex9:15

I'm here.

Lex Fridman9:16

All right. Oh, Chimaev. Ah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov9:20

Legend.

Lex Fridman9:22

Try.

Alex9:22

Oh.

Lex Fridman9:23

Try.

Alex9:24

I try.

Lex Fridman9:27

It's okay, go.

Okay, guys, finish, finish. No, no finish.

Keep going, keep going. It's very good to see you brother. Thank you.

Round Two9:45

Alex9:54

Thank you.

Thanks for go again.

Lex Fridman10:01

That's got to. That's former champ.

Wrong leg. You need your wrong leg. Now beginning, hey, this glove, okay?

Nice. From the

top, you look much. Easy,

easy. Be careful. Finish up. Finish up.

Let's go. Let's go, Mitch. Let's go, Mitch.

Khabib Nurmagomedov12:05

Alex, you're fucking standing wrong. You're looking me.

Lex Fridman12:08

No.

Khabib Nurmagomedov12:09

It's not a headlock.

You understand? Yeah. Squeeze with legs. Now, for example, you move, move. Don't go down.

It's all this. Yeah. Yeah. Nothing here.

That's it. Let's go. Let's go, bro. All right. Push him. Push him, push him, push him, push him. No, don't pull. Get here. Escape a leg. You understand? You 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. Go deep, deep.

Deep, deep, deep. You see? You see 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? You understand?

To make you work. To make you work.

I give you, I just fuck. I work, I work. Sometime he suspect grab me, do something.

Now I understand why people run.

Push, push. I feel like it's loud. 10X. 10X.

Push, push. Move, move, move, move. Because he gonna

run, and he gonna hit.

You grapple like wrestling match. This is not grappling.

Oh. Oh, no. Habib, look, look, look. Be careful. Be careful there. Be careful, son. Hey, be careful.

Okay, okay, stop. See, you grapple like wrestling. It's not wrestling. You cannot give your back all the time. Do you agree? You cannot grapple like that. It doesn't matter. No, it doesn't matter. You give your back. You give your back- There's so much pressure ... I never give him my back. I never give him my... You agree or no, Islam?

Agree or no? You cannot do this. I didn't give him my back. You gave him his back. You gave him his back. You can't tell, but the pressure in the hips is insane.

He's singing too.

Hip, hip, hip. You understand? Hip, hip. Push. Push.

Push. Watch it, watch it, watch it. Watch it. Hey, Marty, move. Move, move, move. Hey, move. He wants to hear us. Hey. Move, brother. He gonna hit you. Thank you so much. He gonna give you same position. You know, I want him feel pressure because I play, he play. He can play with anybody any time. But I go

Philosophy18:09

Khabib Nurmagomedov18:20

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.

Guest18:30

But you know what interesting? Many guys stop. You do never stop. You keep on going.

Khabib Nurmagomedov18:35

Oh, thank you.

Guest18:35

You're not brother. You, you real one.

Khabib Nurmagomedov18:37

But, but, but he feel, he feel, he feel.

Lex Fridman18:41

He feel, uh, psychologically too, I feel like.

Khabib Nurmagomedov18:43

Oh, yeah. Yeah.

Guest18:44

All my life with him. All my life I feel psychologically he want to give up. He don't give you tap. He don't tap you. He keep going. Sometime you tap, he said, "Start."

Khabib Nurmagomedov18:57

Mental is match. Mental is match.

Lex Fridman18:58

Has anyone ever done that to you the last time?

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:01

Who's winner?

Lex Fridman19:03

Maybe when you were a kid?

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:06

You know, since when I was, uh, 18, 19, I was, I wa- I always was against, uh, high level guys.

Lex Fridman19:14

Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:14

Because in my gym I have, uh, always high level guys with who I grew up.

Guest19:19

Brother-

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:19

But the ground games-

Lex Fridman19:20

So there always ground games

Guest19:21

... brother, I know 12 years. This is true. I never see somebody passes guard or tap you.

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:26

Sometimes, sometimes in gym I just come, change clothes. Sometimes we go one and a half hour nonstop. One twenty, one ten, one hour, one and a half hour, more than one hour nonstop. Maybe changing four or five opponents. 10, 15 minute, another guy. 10, 15 minute, another guy.

Lex Fridman19:45

And you keep going?

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:46

I keep going. I, I used to it, like, long time, long time.

Lex Fridman19:51

And what happens to you mentally then?

Khabib Nurmagomedov19:53

Mentally in my mind I was, like, thinking how, how somebody can make me tire, make me tiring.

Lex Fridman19:59

Oh, so you wanted to go on and on?

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:00

Keep going all my life. Keep going, keep going, keep going, keep going. That's it. Yeah, keep going.

Lex Fridman20:07

You know, um, you know Dan Gable, the wrestler?

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:09

Uh-huh. Olympic champion?

Lex Fridman20:10

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 Nurmagomedov20:17

That's why he the best. He was Olymp- he is Olympic champion.

Lex Fridman20:20

Olympic champion.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:20

Yeah. I just come back from, uh, training camp.

Lex Fridman20:23

Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:23

I have training camp in Dubai.

Lex Fridman20:24

Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:24

I have 25 people. They know I every day I go morning and night, morning and night, and all are champions, big, big names. I know, like-

Lex Fridman20:33

How you feel?

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:34

I love it. No, my body is very good.

Lex Fridman20:36

Good.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:36

My body feel very good. Sometime for some, sometime when I travel for one week-

Guest20:41

Yes

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:41

... I feel so bad because I can only run and lift because there is no sparring partner.

Lex Fridman20:46

Yeah.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:47

And I miss it so much.

Lex Fridman20:48

I could tell you still, you still love it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:51

I love it.

Lex Fridman20:51

Like, I can feel it.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:52

No, no, no, I love it.

Lex Fridman20:53

It's awesome.

Final Round20:53

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:53

I love it. Now I'm gonna go with this one.

Guest20:55

Oh, no. Oh, no.

Khabib Nurmagomedov20:56

Be careful. Be careful with this.

Guest20:57

Be careful.

Khabib Nurmagomedov21:00

He

No.

Guest21:40

He's not small guy anymore.

Lex Fridman21:41

No, he feel like 280 pounds.

Khabib Nurmagomedov21:44

It's, it's incredible, man.

Lex Fridman21:47

That's shooting around with Michael Jordan. It's Mi- it's shooting with Michael Jordan, yeah. One, it's like one on one basketball at night with Michael Jordan. Yeah, in the YMCA gym. Yeah, in the YMCA gym.

Khabib Nurmagomedov22:00

Thank you, brother. Thank you, brother. It was good job. It was good job. Tomorrow we work tomorrow.

Lex Fridman22:04

Tomorrow.

Khabib Nurmagomedov22:05

This one. Yeah, we go together, right?

Lex Fridman22:08

Yeah.