They do things a little different in Russia. They breed their mixed martial artists a little different there too.
If you don’t believe that to be true, consider Exhibit “A”: a 9-year-old Khabib Nurmagomedov grappling a bear, seemingly for no reason other than that there was a bear in front of him and he was, even then, a skilled grappler.
According to the time stamp on the video, the main event of Nurmagomedov vs. Bear went down only three days after the elite UFC lightweight contender turned nine. The video is something of a highlight reel, with Nurmagomedov slickly hitting single legs, high crotch rolls and surprisingly deep double legs over the course of its six-minute runtime.
Again, to be clear, this is a nine-year-old boy wrestling a live bear.
In discussing his son’s aptitude for easily handling one of nature’s greatest predators in a boyhood grappling match, Nurmagomedov’s father, Abdulmanap, told ToFight.Ru (h/t Bloody Elbow) the matchup was “a test of character more than exercise.”
That’s certainly one way of describing it.
For its part, the bear could not be reached for comment.
Nurmagomedov has parlayed his youthful pursuits into a 24-0 professional MMA record and 8-0 UFC run, becoming one of the most feared mat tacticians in the sport. He smashed Michael Johnson at UFC 205 to secure his place as a top title contender and will now take on Tony Ferguson for the UFC interim lightweight title in the co-main event of UFC 209, going down this Saturday in Las Vegas.
Check out the video below.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com