All hail the ‘Lazy King’: Abdoul Abdouraguimov ready to claim throne as next French UFC star

Abdoul Abdouraguimov is ready to take his throne.

Ask him about being a fighter, and his voice will shrug at you. He’s good and he knows it, but it’s really that simple. It’s not overly complicated. His next fight? Of course, he knows he’ll win. He has MMA figured out. Just look at his rate of improvement.

According to Abdouraguimov, he earned his blue belt within two weeks of when he started jiu-jitsu. He picked up MMA at 21. Five years later, he has a 14-1 record and is widely regarded as one of the best welterweights outside the UFC.

It took Abdouraguimov a while to settle down. Born in Dagestan, he moved to Germany, then France, where he’s stayed ever since.

His level of dedication to combat sports was initially so low, despite his skyrocketing success. Even into his professional career, he barely trained. Hard-working amateurs would lap him in the gym, but he’d lap them in the cage. There’s God-given talent, then there’s Abdouraguimov. He is “The Lazy King,” after all.

“It’s a present from God, you know?” Abdouraguimov told MMA Junkie. “In the beginning, I didn’t put much work or dedication. Now I started to put more dedication and more work in. I’m becoming more serious now. In the beginning, I was very amateur.”

“Lazy” often has a negative connotation, but Abdouraguimov has learned to embrace it. He calls himself “lazy, but efficient,” which might explain his in-cage improvisation. He doesn’t waste energy on planning, but still figures it out on the fly.

“My friends gave me this nickname,” Abdouraguimov said. “I have some laziness in my character. My character is lazy. They gave me ‘The Lazy King.’ They always told me, ‘You’re lazy, man.’ Then, one day, it was, ‘Let’s call you ‘The Lazy King.’ That’s it. … I like it because it’s easy to remember. It sounds good. It’s who I am. I’m lazy, but efficient.”

To date, Abdouraguimov has accumulated an impressive resume with 10 submissions and one TKO. He currently is riding a four-fight winning streak, which includes an inverted triangle-choke against UFC alum Godofredo Pepey in February. The transition to get there was simply ridiculous and was topped off by an impromptu celebratory imitation of a sloth – a lazy animal, of course.

“I’m the kind of guy who does improvisation,” Abdouraguimov said. “I don’t plan. I don’t have plans. I do what I think in my mind right then like, ‘Boom,’ and I do it every time I have a good idea.”

When he began MMA at 21, Abdouraguimov didn’t anticipate any sort of monetary earnings would come from it. MMA still was illegal in France and deemed a fringe sport by many. It wasn’t very accessible. He only saw highlights found on YouTube. Things have changed, however.

Now MMA is legal in France and the UFC is set to come there for the fist time in September. Abdouraguimov wants on and there has not been a better time for it to happen. At ARES FC 7 in Paris, Abdouraguimov defends his title against Karl Amoussou (27-9-2). The event takes place Saturday and Abdouraguimov could punch his ticket.

“Right now, you have to win,” Abdouraguimov said. “Everybody is watching. It’s a very popular promotion in France. Even the UFC is maybe going to watch. After that, in September, the UFC will be here in Paris. It’s an important moment for me. I’m trying to stay concentrated and calm like always and do the job. That’s my main concentration. I have to go in and fight like I know and use all my weapons.

“That’s it – and I want to enjoy. In the beginning, when I started, I was inexperienced. I had a lot of stress. I didn’t really enjoy the journey. Now, I started to enjoy everything. It feels very great when you enjoy you work. When you love your work, you never work.”

The fight streams on UFC Fight Pass, so Abdouraguimov knows the MMA world will be watching. He needs to win the fans over – especially potential new American fans, whom he eagerly awaits to meet.

“I think the American people will like me,” Abdouraguimov said. “I’m ‘The Lazy King’ and I can put on a lazy show for lazy people. Lazy people are smart people.”