Ibragim Ibragimov is an undefeated professional mixed martial artist and his three brothers are top footballers who have played for Manchester United and City's youth teams.
Undefeated mixed martial arts star Ibragim Ibragimov comes from a family rich in talent, with all three of his brothers being top football prospects.
The 20-year-old Ibragimov has taken a different path to his three brothers, taking up mixed martial arts and making his PFL European debut this Friday in Newcastle. Ibragimov's 16-year-old brother Amir is considered one of the most promising players coming out of Manchester United's academy and recently scored the winning goal in England Under-16's friendly win over Italy.
Gazik, 14, is also in United's Under-14 squad, while the youngest, Mohammed, 12, plays for the Reds' arch rivals Manchester City, and Ibragimov is confident all three brothers will make the professional ranks, and believes Amir should be called up to United's first-team squad sooner rather than later.
“Amir is in the process of signing a contract and in my opinion he should be a first-team player,” Ibragimov said. Mirror Fighting“Gajic has a bright future too, but I want to keep Muhammad where he is. He's still too young and I don't want to put too much pressure on him. But they will all be successful one day.”
“I also played football and was really good. I played for Manchester City and I was close to signing when I was about 15 but didn't. I was doing MMA and football at the same time so I started concentrating on MMA. Amir can also do grappling. If you sign him to the PFL today he will do grappling. He is very strong and can wrestle as well.”
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Ibragimov trains at Manchester Top Team alongside UFC star Lerone Murphy and PFL champion Brendan Loughnane, and the 20-year-old also regularly travels to his native Dagestan to hone his skills at Khabib Nurmagomedov's gym. “I've never rolled with Khabib but I have a very good relationship with him,” Ibragimov added.
“He has a lot of respect for me and it's hard to be humble when you're in his position. If Khabib returns to UFC, I'm sure he'll get the belt back and compete at that level again. Khabib is so incredible. The control and pressure he brings is on another level.”
