“At least give me some socks.” MMA fighter Salikhov recalled an incident with a fan in China

Russian UFC fighter Muslim Salikhov during a chat with , he recounted how a fan in China asked him for an unusual souvenir.

Salikhov transitioned to mixed martial arts after winning several prestigious Wushu Sanda tournaments, receiving the nickname King of Kung Fu. The 39-year-old Russian has fought numerous fights in China, becoming one of the most popular foreigners in sanda competition. At UFC 296, Salikhov will face Jamaican Randy Brown.

— Your manager Sayat Abdrakhmanov said on a podcast that a fan in China asked you to give him a sock, is that true?

– Not certainly in this way. He asked for “at least something” and I was in a T-shirt, shorts and slippers. I just got to the fights. And he said, “Give me something of yourself.” » I said, “Well, how do you imagine that? Am I going to go in shorts or shirtless? He said, “At least give me some socks.” » I told him to come to the hotel and give him a T-shirt.

— Was that your Chinese fan?

– Yes yes. They are somewhat special people. There were different things there. It took me a long time to get used to the way they ask to take photos, or rather, they may not even ask, but stand in front of you with a phone and start taking photos , I didn’t like it. This moment was unpleasant.

I played it regularly from 2003 to 2017, I even spoke Chinese quite well and understood the language.

— Have you trained with someone local who surprised you with a good level?

– Of course it was. Millions of people practice Wushu Sanda there. And everyone can be surprised there, there are a lot of good schools, or rather, even in ordinary schools there is wushu sanda instead of physical education, ”Salikhov told .

The UFC 296 tournament will be broadcast live on , broadcasting begins on December 17 at 06:00 Moscow time, and on Match! Fighter” – at 01:55 Moscow time.