Khabib Nurmagomedov might be retired from MMA but he’s still able to give some great insight into his career, including the guillotine choke that Dustin Poirier caught him in at UFC 242. It was one of just a tiny handful of moments throughout his entire career that he seemed vulnerable, and it was probably the closest he ever came to being submitted. Poirier managed to secure a guillotine in both the second and third rounds of their lightweight title-fight, but it was the second attempt that was the closest. He didn’t finish it of course, and Nurmagomedov was able to take his back and submit him with a rear-naked choke almost immediately afterward.
According to Nurmagomedov, that guillotine was something that he saw coming well before the fight took place:
“It was all my training camp when I’m going to try to take him down, his right hand guillotine is very good. He always try this. Not left hand, right hand. Because he’s a southpaw, he takes with right hand and he moves his hips. I know because I’m orthodox with (my) right hand but I like to choke people with left hand. I knew he was going to try to choke me with (his) right hand.”
The real revelation was that, at least according to Khabib Nurmagomedov, he planned to taking advantage of the guillotine choke to finish Dustin Poirier:
”First time I (gave it to him), he don’t take. The second time when he take this, I let him choke me, he goes to maximum, I changed my body. I came back, I (gave it to) him because I tried to make him tired.”
Although he intended to use it to his advantage, baiting an opponent into locking up a submission is an incredibly risky tactic. Nurmagomedov was well aware of that though:
“It was my plan, but it was a very dangerous plan. Because you have to be careful. Maybe you think he’s not choking you and you can go to sleep. After that, when I escaped, I understand he’s finished. I take his back and I choke him out.”
The full interview with Khabib Nurmagomedov where he discusses the guillotine that Dustin Poirier caught him in at UFC 242 was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of the Inspire Me podcast:
