Video: Khabib introduces ‘Dagestani’ basketball

Khabib and his team are playing a sport that mixes basketball, rugby and... grappling?

There’s something about Dagestan, a place that just seemingly churns out an exorbitant amount of high level wrestlers and fighters. With that in mind, I guess it should come as no surprise that even what should be relatively low contact sports are played with its physicality taken to new heights.

In a recently released clip from Anatomy of a Fighter, UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov introduced their version of hoops.

“I will show you Dagestani basketball,” Khabib Nurmagomedov said. “Only one rule: Don’t hurt yourself.”

In this modified sport that very loosely resembles basketball, there are no traveling violations, no out of bounds rule, and perhaps most noticeable, no fouls. The end result looks more like a mash up of rugby and basketball, with a bit of grappling and wrestling involved as well.

Their jumpshots may make guys like Ray Allen and Steph Curry cringe, but form, style, and maybe even the final score, are all arbitrary here. I mean, at one point in the game, Khabib just decides to wrestle and submit his opponent.

While all the sprinting and physicality involved would be an extreme workout for most people, this fight team uses it as a way to “warm up” before their actual training. It’s also interesting to to note that they’re doing all this during Ramadan, where they’re fasting and will not have have food or water for very long stretches.