Malaysian MMA fans hail UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov’s plan to launch Johor gym

Khabib Gym is set to draw combat sports fans from Malaysia and across the region and become a platform to groom professional fighters

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UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov of Russia raises his champions belt in the city of Makhachkala in 2018. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:49pm, 6 Dec 2024Updated: 5:54pm, 6 Dec 2024

Khabib fever is rumbling in Malaysia after the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) hall of famer announced he would set up a training gym in Johor, in a move that is set to draw legions of combat sports and fitness fans in the country and across the region.

The undefeated Dagestan-born Khabib Nurmagomedov this week agreed to set up the gym in the Malaysian state following discussions in October between Johor Regent Ismail Ibrahim and the UFC superstar. It will be the Russian mixed martial arts (MMA) legend’s second gym after he opened his first in the United Arab Emirates in 2022.

Former professional fighter turned coach Melvin Yeoh said the new Khabib Gym in Johor would inject more energy into Malaysia’s already thriving combat sports scene.

“If you are really into MMA, especially one who is building up grassroots [talent], you should be excited and very eager to see what it will bring to the local community,” Yeoh told This Week in Asia.

Yeoh said interest in combat sports such as boxing, muay thai and MMA started picking up in 2022 during the tail end of the pandemic in Malaysia.

Former Russian MMA fighter and UFC lightweight titleholder Khabib Nurmagomedov attends a press conference in Moscow in 2021. Photo: EPA-EFE

Nurmagomedov’s star power - known as ‘The Eagle’ - is expected to further fuel strong interest in combat sports, said Yeoh, who runs his Ultimate MMA Academy in Johor Bahru.