If anyone read the latest issue of UFC Mag, there's an interesting article on Rustam Khabilov. Not much information aside from the trivial day to day crap like, "Oh look, he's cooking Saslik". I posted an image, just so you know that's real. I'm not posting it fullscreen (high def) due to copyright issues.
- Khabilov did not have wrestling facilities in his village or during school years. He grew up helping his dad on his ranch.
- He first went away for college at 17, and got his first hand at wrestling/sambo there. He is 27 now.
- During the interview, Greg Jackson tried telling the interviewer that Khabilov's been training since a little kid. Stereotypically believing all Russian/Dagestani kids grew up wrestling.
- Khabilov than interrupts, and tells the facts. Greg Jackson is dumbfounded and surprised, and acknowledges how good of a fighter he is seeing how late he started.
- Khabilov won his first amateur fight, but lost for the next two years. By 2007, he had his first pro MMA fight, and has kept winning since.
- Jon Jones on Khabilov: "He's one of the most quiet and humble guys I know, but there's an ON switch there. You can see it in his eyes".
