AKA gym founder Javier Mendez commented in an exclusive interview with Telecomasia.net on the information that Khabib Nurmagomedov will cover the flight for 50 members of Islam Makhachev's team to Abu Dhabi, where he will rematch Alexander Volkanovski at UFC 294 on October 21:
Khabib is a very generous man, but he didn't have money some time ago. We always helped him. Nurmagomedov has changed a lot of people for the better. He cares about people and helps them.
"One of my guys is a fan, he's been around AKA for two years and he's been hanging around Khabib. And one day I see this guy wiping the floors in my gym. I asked him why he was doing that. He replied that he wanted the gym to be clean because he loves Khabib and his team. I let this guy stay in our gym. He did a lot of things for the athletes, bringing them water and things like that. Khabib paid for his flight to Abu Dhabi, paid for his hotel and his ticket to the tournament. Besides, Nurmagomedov signed very rare cards with UFC fighters for him, they are worth hundreds of thousands of dollars," said Mendez.
Recall, Makhachev and Volkanovski first met in February 2023 at UFC 284. In this confrontation, which went all five rounds, Makhachev won by unanimous decision of the judges.
Makhachev has 24 wins and one loss. Volkanovski has 26 wins and two losses.