Khabib Nurmagomedov left the world of MMA in awe when a video about herbing a viral bear was posted a few years ago. The Dagestani was nine years old at the time and, according to his father, the late Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov, Khabib was wrestling with a bear to prove his character and not his heavy loyalty.
Undoubtedly, ‘The Eagle’ would go on to become one of the top scorers in UFC history. The 32-year-old collected an undeveloped record (29-0) before putting up his gloves in October 2020.
Khabib Nurmagomedov’s reluctance to wean bears would not end in childhood, however. He brought a brown bear from Dagestan again – this time, as an adult.
In September 2019, 30-year-old Nurmagomedov was seen rocking a bear with a chain, as the rest of his companions watched him with a clear look on their faces.
In a recent conversation with ESPN, Khabib Nurmagomedov shed some light on his experience of bear training as a child. The Dagestani firefighter recalled his concern about the bear trying to bite him, but his father would just ask Nurmagomedov to bite the bear back.
“Do you think I would be scared of the bear? No” – Khabib Nurmagomedov
In his 2015 interview with Giannis P, Khabib Nurmagomedov made it clear that the bears he wrestled were a “wrestling bear”. They were taught how to wrestle.
‘The Iolaire’ also described his desire to engage a bear and said that he was never afraid to engage in an exchange with the animals.
“This is a wrestling bear. These are like circus bears who are taught to wrestle with their sneakers. It took me down twice but I took it down too. Guys were scared at my age wrestling with the bear, but I told my father I wanted to fight the bear, I started wrestling when I was five and my dad had a gym where he played teaching wrestling to many boys I have learned wrestling from my father all my life I was a nine year old keeper with my father … Do you think I would be scared of the bear? “said Khabib Nurmagomedov.
