UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov visits Paris Saint-Germain Judo

UFC star Khabib Nurmagomedov paid a visit to Paris Saint-Germain Judo yesterday at the invitation of judo president Djamel Bouras and football club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi. During the visit, which came after the Russian fighter witnessed the men's football team triumph over Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League, young members of the club's judo team met with the MMA champion and watched him spa with Bouras, himself a former Olympic Gold medal winner for France.

Of the visit, Khabib said "Yesterday we watched football, today we came here to do a little bit of training with Djamel an Olympic champion, a legend of the sport of Judo and Tagir, an Olympic champion. It's an honor to train with these guys..."

Despite making his name in a different discipline, Nurmagomedov, who last month beat Conor McGregor in UFC 229 explained how judo had played an informative part of his early career, "I trained a bit in judo for two or three years but it was 13 years ago now. I love this sport, it's a very good discipline. This sport teaches people respect, teaches people discipline, sporting people respect that discipline, and for young kids its a very important sport."

During the visit, Khabib sparred with Yhonice Goueffon, a 17 year old Paris Saint-Germain jodoka in the -60kg category. Praising the youngster's efforts, the world champion said "He's a tough guy, young and he has to work, but he has a big future ahead!"

Djamel Bouras later spoke of the visit; "Everyone knows [Khalib] now, he's a great champion, a great guy and a strong guy who I appreciate enormously. Tagir, Olympic and world champion came here yesterday after being here for the dojo unveiling. They wanted to see how the club was and they were impressed by it. It's great for young athletes as well, everything's possible for them but they've got to work, that's the message for young athletes."

The two legends sparred themselves, with Bouras joking; "I haven't done judo in a long time, with my physical condition, after not fighting for 17 years, stamina is complicated! But it's always a pleasure because you have that sensation from the past. We did it in a friendly way...for his benefit!"

The visit of such a renowned name in the martial arts world was inspirational for the young fighters who came to meet him, and reflected the judo president's goals for the project; "What I want for the project of Paris Saint-Germain Judo is to begin with training for young people and tomorrow we could have a great champion for the 2024 Olympic games in Paris."