“Honestly this energy I don’t like” Khabib Nurmagomedov addresses fighting without fans

“Honestly this energy I don’t like” Khabib Nurmagomedov addresses fighting without fans
Khabib Nurmagomedov

After the official weighs ins between Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje, the last formality is also completed. Both of these guys will be entering the Octagon against each other in the title unification fight. The fight is happening in Khabib’s second home ‘Abu Dhabi’ but this time the things are very different.

The last time when Khabib fought in Abu Dhabi at UFC 242 against Dustin Poirier, he had a huge crowd supporting him. The arena was filled with fans of Khabib and the aura of that fight drove a victory for the champion. However, in this pre COVID times, the arena will be empty. Only a few staff members and Khabib and Justin’s teammates will be allowed.

There will be no cheering, no crazy fans supporting ‘The Eagle’ and Khabib admits that his first experience of fighting without the fans is going to be different. While talking to UFC Arabia Khabib says, “When I fight here at 242, one year ago, it was crazy crowd, crazy fans around the world come here, a lot of people from my family, like my father was with me,”

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“It was a great time last time in Abu Dhabi when I fight and right now it’s different without fans. Honestly, this energy I don’t like. I really want to fight when the fans come back, but what can we do?”

Empty arenas is affecting the fighters

UFC Empty Arena

This is a thing of no debate the UFC fighters are not familiar with empty arenas. They like fighting in the arenas filled with crowd cheering them and getting their back. This has affected all the UFC fighters even the champ Khabib says about it, “When fans are there, this is like different level energy”.

“With the fans and without fans is completely two different fights. Some fighters, when they don’t have fans, they fight good. When they have fans they fight a little bit badly because they’re nervous. If you talk about myself, I love fans. When fans are there, they give me good energy. Even if they support me or not, I have very good energy when fans are there.”

“Now I’m gonna fight without fans, we’ll see. We’ll see, but when the cage closes, I think nothing gonna change. I’m just gonna go and hunt and try to find my opponent.” We’ll wait and see tomorrow how much it will affect the champ and whether he’ll successfully defend his title against Justin Gaethje or not.

Also Read: ‘I really want to compete with high-level guys’ Khabib Nurmagomedov is unsure of his retirement