Islam Dulatov abandoned modeling career to chase UFC dream: 'I love to be a fighter'

LAS VEGAS – Islam Dulatov had an easy career posing for high fashion magazines, but the modeling life didn’t bring him the same joy as fighting inside a cage.

Dulatov (11-1 MMA, 0-0 UFC) is one of the latest UFC newcomers after impressing UFC CEO Dana White and the matchmakers with a spectacular first-round finish at Dana White’s Contender Series 75. Now, the former model is a UFC fighter.

From modeling for Versace, Hugo Boss, and many others, Dulatov has now fully traded in his fancy clothes for a Venum fight kit, and it’s precisely where he wants to be.

“(I worked for) every brand which is like a big name,” Dulatov said at a post-fight news conference when asked about his modeling career. “I did a lot of fashion weeks and all that stuff, but to be honest, I prefer fighting more than modeling.”

Even as an up-and-comer on the regional scene, Dulatov passed up bigger paychecks to be in front of the camera to fight, which he admits was not the best financial decision at the time.

“I canceled a lot of shootings when I was younger,” Dulatov said. “We had some problems with money and everything. This time, modeling was really helping me with my situation. I remember when I canceled a shooting for $5,000. At this time, that was a lot of money for me.

“The fight, which was the same day, was for like 200 euros or something like that. … At the end of the moment, the fight was canceled too because my opponent had an injury. I had these situations like 10 times, with even more money and everything. But to be honest, I love to be a fighter and that’s what I do.”

Being a fighter and a model comes with the obvious risk of messing up the money-maker. Dulatov, 26, is a fast finisher who has ended 10 of his 11 pro fights in the first round. He only recalled one particular instance where he showed up to a shoot after a fight with a bruised eye.

“I had a shooting for GQ, and when I go to the shoot casting, they go, ‘What is this? Blue eye?'” Dulatov said. “I go, ‘Yeah.’ They say, ‘Oh, it’s cool. It’s more authentic. It shows what you really are.’ Because in the model business, the people already all know me, they know that I do fighting.

“My agency, at the beginning, they was hating it, but with time they saw, ‘OK, this guy will never stop fighting, so we have to accept it.'”

The Chechnya-born fighter has put modeling on the back burner for now. He will still perform in front of the camera, but as a new UFC welterweight with vicious finishing skills.