There was an odd moment after Khabib Nurmagomedov won the undisputed UFC lightweight title. He spoke passionately in Russian. It sounded like he said “Putin” at one point. And when commentator Joe Rogan asked him to translate, Nurmagomedov demurred.
It is a little bit hard for me,” said Nurmagomedov, as transcribed by Karim Zidan for BloodyElbow.com. “I talk about my big brother, Ziyavudin Magomedov. I want to wish him good luck.
The new champ’s remarks concern 49-year-old Russian billionaire Ziyavudin Magomedov, who was arrested last week on charges of embezzling $35 million from a construction contract. Magomedov has sunk large amounts of money into MMA, in what is believed by many to be an attempt to curry favor with Russian president Vladimir Putin, who is a huge combat sports fan.
Among other steps, Magomedov bought Fight Nights Global and founded Eagles MMA fight team. The Eagles MMA president is Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Our elder brother is a co-owner of our team, Ziyavudin Magomedov, is in a difficult situation, said Nurmagomedov in Russian. He was very helpful to me and other athletes from Russia. Now he has problems, but I want him to know that we, the athletes, are praying for him. I believe that this situation will soon be resolved. I hope that our leader Vladimir Putin will help him. I want to congratulate him on the victory in the last election.
Putin is a big MMA fan and Nurmagomedov is the first Russian UFC champion. Maybe his plea will work. That would be a weird ending to the weirdest week in the sport’s history.
