After the systematic decline in the career of Conor McGregor, who once raised the popularity of the UFC and mixed martial arts to a cosmic level, the Ultimate Fighting Championship is sorely lacking in charismatic fighters. Those who are able to increase ratings and views with a sharp tongue and spectacular fights. The situation is partly saved by the irrepressible Chechen Swede Khamzat Chimaev, but he is still far from the level of popularity of the Irishman.

The UFC decided to change the state of affairs in a very unusual way: the promotion signed a contract … with the Dagestan blogger Khasbulla Magomedov, better known as Hasbik. The guy is only 93 cm tall and weighs 18 kilograms! Fans are unlikely to see Hasbick fight under the auspices of the UFC, but the head of the organization, Dana White, seems to have other grandiose plans.

Hasbullah has already challenged Conor!

Hasbick is familiar with the UFC

20-year-old Magomedov is a man with a genetic feature of growth. He gained popularity thanks to a video in which he eats strawberries, saying: “Strawberries are the bomb, to be honest.” Extraordinary appearance, manner of speech and funny antics very quickly made Hasbik one of the most popular heroes in the media space. And living in Dagestan could not but connect Khasbulla with the world of martial arts. For a long time, his fight with another little blogger and singer Abdurozik was unfolding on the Web, but their confrontation never took place.

Photo: © Personal archive of Hasbik

At the same time, a video with a small brawl between Hasbik and Abdurozik also reached UFC President Dana White, who positively assessed such a performance and admitted the possibility of this fight in his organization. Not surprisingly, Hasbullah’s contacts with the planet’s premier fighting promotion didn’t end there. The tiny blogger’s neighbor is none other than Islam Makhachev, a UFC lightweight contender and close friend of former UFC champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Hasbik has long been familiar with Islam and Khabib, and they also contributed to his visit to the UFC numbered event in Abu Dhabi last fall. There, Hasbullah watched fights from White’s side and also recorded videos of popular fighters, including famed champions Daniel Cormier and Henry Cejudo. To date, Hasbeek has already met many people from the fighting and sports world, and most recently recorded funny videos with UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovskiy and legendary basketball player Shaquille O’Neal.

Skirmish with Conor and getting into a video game

The increased popularity of Hasbullah did not go unnoticed even by Conor McGregor. The famous Irishman loves to lash out at other fighters with insults on social networks, but recently, with the most harsh words, Conor hit Hasbeak too.

“I would love to toss that little cripple Hasbullah over the bar.” How much does it cost to shoot him? One day I want to fulfill one of my goals: score a three-pointer with them,” McGregor wrote in one of the social networks.

The hype around the little blogger and his friendship with Khabib, who defeated the Irishman in the octagon a few years ago, clearly haunts Conor. Hasbullah responded to his offender by offering to meet at the upcoming UFC tournament in Abu Dhabi. The promotion, on the wave of hype, decided to go further: according to several sources, the UFC signed a five-year contract with Hasbullah. It involves visiting tournaments, PR and media interaction, part of which may be the inclusion of a little Dagestan in the UFC sports simulator from Electronic Arts.

It is easy to guess that Hasbik’s participation in the events of the main fighting promotion of the planet is just beginning. Does the UFC really want to bring Hasbullah with McGregor in some form, or still organize a fight with Abdurozik that has not yet taken place? We’ll find out very soon.