Anthony Joshua expressed interest in visiting Dagestan but made it clear he doesn’t want to spend years there and fade into obscurity. The two-time unified heavyweight boxing champ, now residing in Dubai, attended the recent PFL event at the Coca-Cola Arena, where Usman Nurmagomedov headlined by submitting Alfie Davies in the third round to defend his title.
Before the fight, Joshua went backstage to meet the renowned Nurmagomedov camp, which included Khabib Nurmagomedov, serving as the emcee, Javier Mendez, and Islam Makhachev and Umar Nurmagomedov providing corner support. Joshua specifically sought out Islam Makhachev, the UFC two-division champion, to show him something on his phone. Although they didn’t laugh at what was shown, Makhachev invited Joshua to come train in Dagestan.
Joshua referenced the popular “2-3 years Dagestan” meme—a jibe about spending time in the Russian region to toughen up in fighting—and humorously said he’d prefer to visit for a few weeks rather than for years, earning a laugh from the crowd.
In addition to meeting the Nurmagomedov family, Joshua spent time with fighter Dakota Ditcheva and had a notable conversation with PFL’s CEO John Martin. The former Turner Broadcasting executive, who assumed leadership last year, has already enacted significant changes within the promotion, such as scrapping the world tournament format while retaining longtime executive staff.
Fan Take: This interaction between Joshua and the Dagestani MMA elite symbolizes a unique bridge between boxing and MMA worlds, highlighting the growing mutual respect among elite combat athletes. Joshua’s potential training stint in Dagestan could lead to an exciting exchange of techniques and mindsets, ultimately enriching the fighting community and raising the profile of cross-discipline collaboration.
