You don't need to force submissions on an opponent because they'll exhaust themselves trying to escape a dominant position.
Khabib describes his core mat philosophy: staying heavy and patient so the opponent burns their own energy trying to get up, rather than him expending effort to force anything. ✦ AI generated
Khabib · Lex Fridman · 2026-02-25 · original ↗
starts at this moment · 13:18
I don't need to do nothing. You have to. You have to spend your energy to get up. You understand? Why I have to force? Do you understand? I make you work.
verbatim transcript · starts at 13:18
13:18No, don’t pull look here And I pull Boom. Boom. [Lex] And you just pull that. [Khabib] Or this one. But this one is better. But sometimes when I want to put... [Lex] Yeah, yeah, yeah... [Khabib] Just stay here. [Lex] Just stay. [Khabib] I don't need to do nothing. You have to. You have to spend your energy to get up. You understand? Why I have to force? Do you understand? I make you work.
14:23[Khabib] I’ll make you work! [Lex] Now I understand why people run. [Khabib] Let's go, let's go, let's go. move move move, Magdi Magdi, move! [Ali to Magdi] You grapple like it’s a wrestling match. This is not grappling. [Speaker_3] Oh, no. Khabib look, look, [Khabib] be careful be careful Be careful, Islam. Hey. Be careful. [Lex] It’s so much pressure. shit... You can't tell with the pressure in the hips is insane.