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Watch: Fedor Emelianenko Beats Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s Student, Then Shakes His Hand
Fedor Emelianenko and Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov shared a handshake after Fedor defeated one of Abdulmanap’s students, Akhmedshaikh Gelegaev, at the 2012 Russian Combat Sambo Championship. Footage of the match, first posted online that February, is getting another look. It is a brief exchange, but the people in it give the clip its pull.
Fedor Emelianenko Beats Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s Student
The bout took place during the national championship in Moscow, held from February 3 to 5. Fedor competed in the over-100-kilogram division and went on to win the title, beating his younger brother Alexander in the final. Gelegaev’s match was one stop on that run.
WHEN FEDOR EMELIANENKO BEAT ABDULMANAP’S STUDENT
Two MMA legends. One incredible moment.
Fedor Emelianenko shakes hands with Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov after defeating his student, Akhmedshaikh Gelegaev, at the Russian Combat Sambo Championship in 2012.
Gelegaev went on to record… pic.twitter.com/f6bXw6lcNu
— Red Corner MMA (@RedCorner_MMA) September 29, 2026
Fedor Emelianenko is a legend for what he did in the ring: he won the PRIDE heavyweight title, went 28 fights unbeaten from 2001 to 2010 and became a four-time world combat sambo champion. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov’s legacy is what he built outside it. He coached his son Khabib, who retired as an undefeated UFC champion, and developed a Dagestani training team whose fighters carried his approach into the next generation. That is why their handshake lands differently now: one of MMA’s defining heavyweights had just beaten a student of one of its defining coaches.
Abdulmanap’s presence was more than a famous face at ringside. Gelegaev was his student, a connection Abdulmanap discussed in a 2016 interview ahead of the heavyweight’s Fight Nights Global bout with Sergei Pavlovich. The coach rated Gelegaev’s grappling highly and believed that getting Pavlovich to the ground would be his best route to victory.
Khabib Nurmagomedov Opens Up on the Day His Father Kicked Islam Makhachev Out of the Gym. [Image via TNT Sports Football on Facebook]
Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov competed in sambo himself. Biographical accounts say he took up sambo and judo while serving in the Soviet Army and later became a Ukrainian champion in both. His reputation in MMA, though, rests chiefly on his coaching, including his work with Khabib and other fighters from Dagestan.
Gelegaev had his own history with Khabib Nurmagomedov, Abdulmanap’s son. In a separate 2016 interview, he said the two had been friends and wrestled together since childhood. He also said he had sparred with Khabib while preparing to return to a major fight. That makes the handshake a link between two fight circles that viewers usually remember through different names and careers.