Story By: Anna Guran, Sub Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Golder’s News And Sport
MMA superstar Khabib Nurmagomedov has made been inducted into the Russian Book of Records for having the most followers on Instagram.
Russian fighter Nurmagomedov, 30, received two awards on Monday 7th October during a business forum in St. Petersburg in western Russia after continued success in the fighting world.
The prize was given to him by Stanislav Konenko and Andrei Lobkov, who holds multiple Guinness World Records himself including the most number of pushups done on his fists.
Following Nurmagomedov’s fight against American fighter Dustin Poirier on 7th September the Russian fighter’s followers on Instagram reportedly went up to over 16,345,000 making him the most popular Russian figure on the platform.
Since then, Nurmagomedov’s followers have increased to an incredible 17.3 million, one million more than Russian pop-singer dubbed the “Queen of Instagram” by some Russians Olga Buzova who previously had the most followers with 16.3 million.
Nurmagomedov won two records in the Russian Book of Recrods, including having the longest winning streak of any Russian fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Champion (UFC) with 28 wins and for the incredible number of followers he has gained on social media.
After receiving the award the fighter spoke with local media, saying: “If I said that social media is not important to me, I would be lying. After the fight with Poirier information came out about me and Buzov. I did not even know there was a rivalry between us.
“It is always nice to be first. I hope she understands. Women want to the best everywhere too.”
The awards come after Nurmagomedov’s father Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov was also inducted into the Russian Book of Records on 23rd September for coaching the most amount of champions in the Soviet martial art and combat sport Sambo – with 18 of his fighters becoming champions.
Nurmagomedov is currently in negotiations for his next fight.
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