Nurmagomedov makes his long-awaited return to the Octagon in the co-main event of UFC 219, which takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the early hours of Saturday morning.
The contest will be Nurmagomedov’s first since his UFC 205 bout with Michael Johnson, which he won via a third round submission.
Nurmagomedov was due to fight for the interim lightweight title in the co-main event of UFC 209 in March.
However, he was forced to withdraw from the eagerly-anticipated contest with current interim champ Tony Ferguson due to complications with his weight cut.
The Dagestan native received a lot of flak for his late withdrawal from the fight, with many fans accusing him of eating Tiramisu in the build-up to his first shot at UFC gold.
The notions of Nurmagomedov eating the Italian dessert and not being on course to make weight have irked his head coach, Javier Mendez, who insists the unfortunate cancellation of the fight had nothing to do with his student’s diet.
“It wasn’t like he wasn’t going to make weight or he was going to have a tough time making weight,” Mendez told Express Sport. “It’s just that his body failed him.
“It’s like anything. It wasn’t a struggle, he wasn’t going through a struggle. His body just failed.
“It’s just like when someone is getting ready for a fight and they get kidney stones. It didn’t mean that they couldn’t fight, it’s just that their body failed them. And that’s what happened here.
“It wasn’t that he was too heavy. No, it was nothing to do with that. His body failed him so he had to have surgery.
“Things like that happen, you’ve got to expect it. The thing about Khabib, he doesn’t like to talk about it.
“He didn’t say nothing because as far he’s concerned, it is what it is. He accepted it and moved on. He let people talk the way they want to talk, he didn’t defend himself. He really didn’t.”
According to Mendez, the issue of weight won’t be a factor for Nurmagomedov this time around on account of the fact he entered his latest training camp with less mass.
“He came into this camp lighter,” he added. “But the last fight too, he was fine, he was going to make weight.
“Things happen like that when people’s bodies fail them. It happens to everyone.”
UFC 219 takes place at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas in the early hours of Sunday morning and is headlined by a women’s featherweight title fight between champion Cris ‘Cyborg’ and former bantamweight titleholder Holly Holm.