Rafael Dos Anjos, the former UFC lightweight champion, recalled his fight with fellow former champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
"Before that fight, I was sparring in the cage. And so when I went up to it, my ear got stuck. I went to the hospital with a torn ear. When I shook my head, my ear shook, too. This happened three months before the fight with Khabib. I got 14 stitches. It was four to six weeks before I came home and felt confident to train grappling again. I didn't work on grappling before this fight. I did more muay Thai and strength training, even though I was fighting the best grappler in UFC history. Khabib came into the octagon and kept knocking me down. He played the game well, controlled me, and I couldn't get up from under him. He has good control. He didn't do any damage to me at all, he just controlled me. Khabib did it very well. If I had trained as a grappler, I could have done better. Alas, that's what happened," said the Brazilian.
Recall, Khabib's fight with Dos Anjos took place in 2014, ending with the victory of "Eagle".
