UFC legend Khabib Nurmagomedov says he might not be Dagestan’s most famous export for long after revealing that diminutive blogger Hasbulla Magomedov has a lengthy list of suitors seeking his signature.
Magomedov, known to many as Hasbulla or Hasbik, has captured the attention of a generation of fight fans after debuting online in a now infamous clip with pint-sized foe Abdu Rozik – but if you thought that his 15 minutes of fame were due to expire soon, think again.
Hasbulla – who is said to be 19 years of age – has graduated from social media curiosity to a fully fledged phenomenon in recent months.
He attended October’s UFC 267 event in Abu Dhabi by invitation of Dana White himself, and was even proudly hoisted into the air by fellow Dagestani icon Islam Makhachev following the latter’s impressive first-round finish of Kiwi brawler Dan Hooker.
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He even boasts a keen friendship with a certain Khabib Nurmagomedov, with the former undefeated UFC lightweight champion, as evidenced by comments made by ‘The Eagle’ at a Moscow press conference on Monday.
“With Hasbik, let’s make it so that people understand the situation. Hasbik lives in Khushet (in Dagestan). We have Saygid, Islam, Gadzhi… He’s a neighbor for our guys who live in Khushet. They know him from there, before he became a star,” Khabib said, as quoted by Championat.
“We have a good relationship. And when we have some kind of events, fights, we invite him so he doesn’t sit at home. We take him to Moscow. The fans also want to see him, he’s an interesting personality.”
The internet has been awash with recent speculation, some of which has been positively stoked by Dana White, that Hasbulla might settle his feud with Abdu Rozik inside the UFC’s Octagon – but Khabib revealed he is against his pal throwing leather inside of a cage.
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“Regarding the fight, I don’t even know,” Khabib said. “I’ve never asked him about it. It’s an unnecessary topic, why would he want to fight someone?
“Everyone wants to hype it up, that he’ll fight this person or that person. Hyping it up means views and likes. He’s always with us in the gym, he’s got a lot of friends,” Khabib added.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"Hasbulla and Abdu Rozik beef is for real. Book it Dana. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/UFC267?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#UFC267</a> <a href="https://t.co/qhQp7NezAc">pic.twitter.com/qhQp7NezAc</a></p>— Ashrafak Ghani 💰🇦🇫💰بابا اشرفک (Parody) (@Ashrafakbaba) <a href="https://twitter.com/Ashrafakbaba/status/1454865486852861955?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 31, 2021</a></blockquote>
“I don’t want him to fight or to enter the Octagon with Abdu Rozik. They’re both now being hyped right now. If they’re friends and do some kind of joint project, they can both gain big advantages.
“One businessman, I don’t know his name, paid them either a million each or one million between them so that they wouldn’t fight.
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<img src="https://cdni.rt.com/files/2021.12/thumbnail/61b5e28085f54066e916cdd4.jpg" alt="Hasbulla spoke about the chances of a bout with Abdu Rozik. © YouTube Red Corner MMA" />
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“He saw that there was some promotion for this fight, went to them and made this donation. And he took their word this fight wouldn’t happen. Information like that is also available. I wouldn’t want them to fight either.”
On the surface, and particularly to Khabib’s fans in Russia, this might seem like needless hype. But as Khabib explained, Hasbulla has become significantly famous in the United States, and far more so than the level of celebrity he currently has in his native land.
“Hasbik is more popular in America than he is in Russia. I’m telling you the truth,” said Khabib.
“I’ve had a couple of photos with him and they think, ‘Is he my brother?’ They constantly ask me: ‘Where’s Hasbik?’ I tell them I don’t know where he is, at home perhaps. In England I was meeting some fans and everyone asked me where Hasbik was.
“He’s really popular abroad. Hollywood stars [know him], organizations like Bellator, the UFC. Dana White called me himself, asked where Hasbik was and asked to bring him to Abu Dhabi.
//www.instagram.com/p/CVzp2BUKkqw
And according to Khabib, there has even been concrete interest from an entirely different type of arena: the WWE.
“The WWE, wrestling, also wants him to come to them somehow,” said former UFC champion.
“They want to pay him some big money to get him into the ring. He’s immensely popular abroad.”
So be it in a WWE ring, or maybe even the silver screen, it certainly doesn’t seem like that we have seen the last of Hasbulla – and if Hollywood gets their way, we might be seeing a whole lot more before all is said and done.
https://ift.tt/31WMpmW 13, 2021 at 11:05PM
from RT – Daily news