Henry Cejudo says Sambo stars like Khabib Nurmagomedov 'can't make it in wrestling'
The Olympic wrestling champion said "wrestling is king in Dagestan", but admitted he is not sure he could hang with its elite wrestlers now.
Henry Cejudo says Sambo fighters such as Khabib Nurmagomedov turned to Sambo because they could not make it in wrestling.
"People who do sambo, they can't do wrestling. Like they can't make it in wrestling," Cejudo said on the Double Coverage Podcast. "Like Khabib and all these dudes, like I love them, but I know bro, like wrestling is king in Dagestan. If you can't make it in wrestling, they go to sambo dudes. There's a handicap in there. There's a gi."
The 2008 Olympic freestyle wrestling champion did admit he might struggle with Dagestan's best wrestlers now. "The elite ones, dude, I don't know if I can hang with them," he said. "I've been out of the sport for the last 15 years."
He added: "85% of all mixed martial art champions come from the sport of wrestling."
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