A public Dagestani is for France in the UFC: he speaks without an accent (although he considers his native Russian) and went to fights with a flag 🇬🇧 – Puncher – Blogs
The story of Nassurdin Imavov.
Nassurdin Imavov storms the top 15 middleweights in the UFC. He appeared in Dagestan, but publicly for France, although earlier there was a Russian flag in his profile on the promotion website.
Imavov is an ethnic Dagestani, but Sean Strickland, whom he will face on January 15 at UFC Fight Night, got his connection with France:
“Hell, I don’t even know how his name came about. What are the best French people? Give up. I know Imavov wins hard, but he’s still freaking french, man. We’ve heard as many turnovers as the fucking French are afraid of.
Maybe he intends to get the opposite. Perhaps he will say that his country is no longer afraid. Hell, I don’t know. Unique, what the French are good at is having romances, turning in and replaying fights. Blaine, UK. Maybe he’s different.”
Imavov broke his peer’s hand at school and learned to speak French without an accent in two years
Nassurdin Imavov was born in Khasavyurt. This is how his childhood passed: “Mountains, fresh air with grandparents. Grandpa woke me up in the morning to run at the stadium, and I was very lazy (laughs).” But already at the age of 10 he moved to France, where he lived in the city of Salon-de-Provence, 50 kilometers from Marseille. The reason is the work of the father.
In France, Imavov was immediately distinguished by a unique mentality and stood out against the background of his peers in character. There were many fights: “If they are at school [французы] quarrel, then at first they will chat for two hours. And it was unusual for me, I immediately beat. Then I realized that they could chat like this for two hours, swear and leave.
The conflicts led to the call of parents to school, contact with the police and serious injuries: “One of the lawless people accidentally broke his arm, dislocated it. He was arrogant: climbed, climbed. Well … They called the parents to the police. But I was small, 12-13 years old.”
Imavov easily learned French, although 17 years later he retained a recognizable Caucasian accent when completely in Russian. To speak pure French, it will be released for two years. Despite living in France, Imavov speaks his native Russian. The home family speaks Russian, although sometimes in French. Communication with grandmother – in Kumyk.
Imavs of gaining a recognizable Caucasian appearance, comparison Portuguese or Spaniards: “Of course, they distinguish [кто француз, кто нет]I know that I am from Dagestan. Everyone already knows this. Outwardly, I look like a Dagestan, the first time I hear this (laughs). Recognize in me [горца]”.
In September, Imavov, as a UFC fighter, fought for the first time in Paris. He considers France home, but used to fight with the public flag.
In September 2022, before the fight against Imavov in Paris, Joaquin Buckley said: “I don’t like myself on the territory of the territory, because I am in Paris. I do not know how long Nassurdin lived in France, but he definitely did not live in this country.
Imavov is a Russian guy, Dagestan. Sometimes he even went to fights with the flag of Russia. A lot of people in France are asking me to knock him out so it will be in defensive territory.”
Imavov himself didn’t worry and won: “Before this, I only fought abroad, this will be my first fight in France, so I don’t know exactly how this affects me. Will it put pressure on me? I like the post. It’s going to be amazing, I’m looking forward to it.”
Imavov also made his debut in MMA in Paris, but lost. Imavov has been living in France for more than 15 years and considers it home: “If there is one country, then it is France. Because I have lived there most of my life. I grew up there. And I currently live there. I represent France, but do not forget that I am from Russia.”
Trips to Russia there are rare: “I was once about two years ago [цитата из интервью 2021 года]. Traveled to Dagestan. It feels like this is my home. Do you still have friends in Russia? No. During the last visit, I got to know a man who remained in some close friends in Russia.
Its active in Russia. For example, before the fight with Baklitsid to oxidize Khabib Nurmagomedov. Buckley provoked Imavov in social networks and received a response from reference roots: “How do you say ‘big shut your mouth’ in American?” We talk about it on September 3rd. It is clear that in our culture, in the Caucasus, insults are too much. This throws me off balance.”
In Paris, Imavov lived with his brother in a seven-meter apartment and sparred with Ngannou and Gan. For the accuracy of his strikes, the coach called him the “Russian sniper”
Imavov’s father is a boxer. There was a gym in Salon-de-Provence near their house, so Imavov took up boxing. So he trained until the age of 17, until he switched to MMA. He was inspired to do this by his brother Dagir, who by that time had previously been a mixed martial artist.
Together with his brother, Imavov moved to Paris and immediately got into one of the best halls in the world of MMA Factory. There they trained with its founder, Fernand Lopez. “I immediately fell in love with them, with their physical quality, with their self-sacrifice,” recalled Lopez.
Several years of Imavs lived in a seven-meter room right in the nine-story building, in the corresponding hall: “We didn’t care about comfort, we already had it [когда мы жили] on South. All we needed was a roof over our heads and training. When you train all your life, you don’t need a very large apartment. Fernand was furious (laughs). He said the mattress so we could sleep in the gym.”
Imavov progressed – over time, this made him a sparring partner of Francis Ngannou and Cyril Gan. Coach Lopez said: “There is a contrast. During training, he is like an alpha male, but at the same time very modest, calm and simple. It is very interesting. He is open and pleasant to other people.”
In 2019, Imavov won the Thunderstrike Fight League title and became the best middleweight in France. This promoted him to the UFC. Nassurdin is a bright drummer who combines high tempo with exceptional precision. So the nickname “Russian Sniper” was assigned to him, which was given by the coach after training:
“When I first arrived at the Parisian MMA Factory, they did a preview sparring. Research trainer. He noticed that I landed a lot of clean punches straight to the chin and gave me a nickname.”
A Dagestanian from England, a Chechen from Sweden and an Armenian from the USA are fighting in the UFC
• Khamzat Chimaev is a Swede of Chechen descent from third place in the welterweight division. A 12-0 streak in MMA and status as one of the main players in the UFC.
• Muhammad Mokaev is a Briton from Dagestan who finished 14th in the flyweight division. 22 year old fighter with a 9-0 record. He spent less than a year in the UFC, but has already taken three victories and caused the fight of most of the top divisions.
• Ilia Topuria is a Spaniard with Georgian roots who moved up to ninth in the featherweight division. Topuria’s victory over Bryce Mitchell ended his American at 28:
“I regret. I know that you could be better. It hurts me so much: I don’t think it’s worth continuing, so I want to quit MMA. I need to put the attention I wasted every single day on this, something else.”
• Edmen Shahbazyan is a US fighter with Armenian roots. Often he showed Imavova – a technical knockout in the second round.
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A photo: Eastern news/ JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP, Mike Stobe / Getty Images via AFP, Benjamin Guillot-Muex / Hans Lucas / Hans Lucas via AFP; Gettyimages.ru/ Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC; twitter.com/imavov1; instagram.com/imavov_nassourdine