Javier Mendez, the head coach of Umar Nurmagomedov, wishes his fighter told him he broke his hand.
Nurmagomedov revealed after UFC 311 that he broke his hand early in the fight. Early on, Nurmagomedov was having success against Merab Dvalishvili, but he lost the final three rounds to lose the decision and fall short of winning the belt.
However, Umar Nurmagomedov never told Mendez he broke his hand and the coach wishes he did as he says he would have changed the game plan.
Javier Mendez REVEALS Umar never told him and Khabib he broke his hand during his fight with Merab at #UFC311 with them only finding out after the fight!
“I didn’t know, that Umar broke his head. He didn’t tell us. It’s one thing. If he would have told us, we would have changed… pic.twitter.com/AGKj2da0Rd
— Submission Radio (@SubmissionRadio) January 21, 2025
“If he had told me he broke his hand, I would have changed the game plan. Khabib and I would have changed the game plan completely around because Khabib is a great corner,” Mendez said to Submission Radio about Nurmagomedov. “He’s one of the great ones that I’ve encountered cornering with. So, we could have changed the game plan, but we weren’t told. Umar didn’t tell us. That just shows you the kind of warrior he is. We would have changed the plan had he told us that. Why would we do what we did, having him throw that broken hand, if we knew he broke his hand? That would be stupid.
