UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov has been touted to be the 'greatest coach of all time' by American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez.

The Dagestani fighter hung up his gloves in March 2021 after a brilliant career in which he went undefeated as he defended his UFC lightweight title multiple times.

Despite retiring from fighting, the Russian is an active fight promoter and is becoming very active in the coaching part of the sport, and he has been important in helping the next generation of Russian and Dagestani fighters in both UFC and Bellator.

His coaching reputation is starting to see him be sought after by longtime teammates and non-Russian fighters like Luke Rockhold and new fighters such as Belal Muhammad.

At UFC 280, Islam Makhachev will be fighting after being coached by Nurmagomedov, the pair were also training partners for a while before he retired.

Makhachev will face off against Charles Oliveira for the undisputed Lightweight title, and if he wins it would mean that Nurmagomedov will have picked up his first UFC belt as a coach in under two years after retiring.

American Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez believes that there is no limit on the 34-year-old's coaching potential.

He said on the UFC unfiltered podcast: 'He's been coaching forever. Even when he was fighting, he was coaching.

'He'd be sparring through these five rounds and all of a sudden, he'd be sitting there with us coaching the guys.

'He's been doing that forever. His father had trained him from such a young age to take the responsibility over, as a fighter, as a coach, and he's taking over his father's footsteps.

'He's learned from me, he's learned from his father, mostly his father. But to me, he's on track, in my opinion, because of his age, what he's doing, the camp I see, the fighters he has, he's on track to being the greatest coach of all time, in my opinion.

'I see it. I see the writing on the wall.'