Rustam Khabilov getting ready for his first foray into UFC

ALBUQUERQUE -- Perhaps nothing better embodies Russian lightweight Rustam Khabilov's first foray into the UFC than his official fighter profile page. With

Melissa Segura | Dec 14, 2012

ALBUQUERQUE -- Perhaps nothing better embodies Russian lightweight Rustam Khabilov's first foray into the UFC than his official fighter profile page. With roughly 72 hours before his UFC debut in Saturday's The Ultimate Fighter 16 Finale against Vinc Pichel (7-0-0), the site didn't feature a picture of the 14-1-0 fighter, but a silhouette. The site has since been updated with profile pictures, but Khabilov's reputation remains much like the cache of that page: a blank.

Khabilov might be an unknown to all but the most rabid MMA fans but he's already achieved celebrity status with his Jackson-Winkeljohn teammates. Coach Mike Winkeljohn helps Khabilov step out of the shadows by breaking down what to watch in his pupil's premiere.

SI.com: What are Khabilov's strengths in the cage?

Winkeljohn: Rustam is probably one of the best wrestlers we have here at our school. He's got a great wrestling base. No matter where he's at, even in a scramble, when it looks like he might be at a disadvantage, he pulls it out and ends up on top. He's new to the sport in that he gets on top and doesn't finish people off. He wasn't sure. Greg has really been working on his ground and pound.

SI.com: What does Vinc Pichel do well?

Winkeljohn: Stand-up wise, the kid we're fighting has a good right hand -- a good, long right hand that we're watching for. . . That's his strongest asset. That, and being very, very physically strong. He will be in the best shape of his life.

SI.com: What's the key to the fight?

Winkeljohn: The key to this fight is I think we get this kid down. But it's a matter of now putting him down and imposing our will on him as far as our ground and pound goes. We do have a few submissions we can use but if we do more ground and pound, it'd be a beautiful world.

SI.com: What is it like trying to coach Khabilov, who doesn't speak much English yet?

Winkeljohn: I use my iPhone translator now a little bit with the guys, use hand signals. Fighting is a universal language in that we can talk about an underhook or a hit (he makes the underhook and striking motions) and then the guy changes levels and they start picking up because everybody has experience with fighting enough that we can teach through hand signals and looks.

Published Dec 14, 2012

MELISSA SEGURA

Staff Writer, Sports Illustrated Staff writer Melissa Segura made an immediate impression at Sports Illustrated. As an undergraduate intern in 2001, her reporting helped reveal that Danny Almonte, star of the Little League World Series, was 14, two years older than the maximum age allowed in Little League. Segura has since covered a range of sports for SI, from baseball to mixed martial arts, with a keen eye on how the games we play affect the lives we lead. In a Sept. 10, 2012, cover story titled, The Other Half of the Story, Segura chronicled the plight of NFL wives and girlfriends caring for brain-injured players. In 2009 she broke the story that MLB had discovered that Washington Nationals prospect Esmailyn Gonzalez, who had been signed to a team-record $1.4 million bonus in 2006, was really Carlos Alvarez and he was four years older than he had claimed to be. Segura graduated with honors from Santa Clara University in 2001 with a B.A. in Spanish studies and communications (with an emphasis in journalism). In 2011, she studied immigration issues as a New York Times fellow at UC-Berkeley's Graduate School of Journalism. Before joining SI full-time in 2002, she worked for The Santa Fe New Mexican and covered high school sports for The Record (Bergen County, N.J.). Segura says Gary Smith is the SI staffer she would most want to trade places with for a day. "While most noted for his writing style, having worked alongside Gary, I've come to realize he is an even more brilliant reporter than he is a writer."