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Khabib Nurmagomedov sat down with Vladimir Putin on Thursday — and the President of Russia showered him with praise for another impressive UFC victory.
It all went down in Khabib’s homeland of Dagestan (which is part of Russia) — and the leader of Dagestan, Vladimir Vasilyev, was on hand to honor the 30-year-old for his UFC 242 victory over Dustin Poirier.
Putin is known for being a massive combat sports fan — and he’s been a huge supporter of Khabib for years.
In fact, when Khabib smashed Conor McGregor back in 2018, Putin summoned the Eagle for a little celebratory snack in a dinky room with a dinky food spread in the city of Ulyanovsk.
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But, this time, the gang upgraded to a nicer meeting spot with big leather chairs and a fancy table — where Putin praised Khabib’s father, Abdulmanap, for raising a champion.
“I’ll start with you: I want to congratulate you on the victory of your son. A well deserved victory and a challenging opponent … He’s a strong fighter.”
Putin continued with Khabib … “I congratulate you, a very good match, beautiful, honest. I looked, a good asphyxiation.”
Putin called Khabib an “excellent athlete” and said the victory over Poirier was “convincing.”