Brosussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has revealed himself as a fan of Russian comedy mixed martial arts sensation Hasbullah by printing an image of the social media star onto his mug.
READ MORE: Pint-sized pugilists go viral but contest splits opinion in Russia: Is it giving the masses what they want or a ‘vulgar circus’?
Hasbullah Magomedov, who hails from the same Dagestan hometown as former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, shot to viral fame for his social media clips promoting a potential fight with fellow little man and vlogger Abdurozik from Tajikistan.
The pugnacious, pint-sized performer has racked up hundreds of thousands of followers online as well as fan accounts being set up in the 18-year-old’s honour, falling in love with his cocksure but jovial manner and high pitched ranting.
It seems Hasbullah has now won over another fan in the shape of one of Europe’s most sought-after strikers in Erling Haaland, who settled down for a cuppa emblazoned with a picture of the Russian in trademark serious pose while on his phone.
“It’s time for a lovely cup of tea,” Haaland wrote while posing before adding a close up of his cup captioned “my new favourite mug”.
Hasbullah became quiet unsurprisingly known by the unoriginal tag ‘mini Khabib’ named in honour of ‘Dagestan Eagle’ Nurmagomedov after blowing up on TikTok.
The fight between Hasbullah and Abdurozik however was allegedly called off with the former having made wild demands of 20 million rubles ($270,000) according to fight promoter and fellow teenager Askhab Tamaev.
READ MORE: ‘A promoter has to step in’: Fans make desperate plea as Hasbulla fight is OFF after internet sensation ‘demands too much money’
However, the three have since been pictured together with news hinted at coming soon and new videos being circulated fuelling speculation that one of the internets most anticipated MMA matchups of this generation may yet still happen.
