Fans on social media have accused Russian social media star Hasbulla Magomedov of punching and pulling his cat's ear in a disturbing social media video.
Magomedov, a 20-year-old Dagestani influencer with dwarfism that makes him look childlike, shot to fame during the pandemic with videos of his antics across social media. But he has outraged fans in a video which recently resurfaced showing him getting a bit too aggressive while playing with his cat Barsik.
The Russian, who is signed as an ambassador with the UFC and is regularly pictured with Dana White, regularly shows off his cat on social media in videos. He is a known animal lover, and has been shown with a number of pets throughout his time as an influencer, but some feel that his recent video was a step too far.
One fan wrote on social media: "This is offensive and needs taking down. Anyone defending it has different values to a real person. RSPCA needs a look. Weird." Another added: "Big tough hasbulla hitting a cat but doesn't hit the people who make fun of him on internet all the time must of made him feel tough scaring a cat by punching it needs good knee to the head hasbulla does
Others believe that he should have his cat, whose name is Barsik, taken away, with one writing: "This is the infamous Barsik, Hasbulla’s cat. He has stated that he loves this animal. Imagine what he would do if he hated Barsik? Abusing animals is the worst. We need to come together as a team and rescue Barsik from the evil and tiny hands of Hasbulla. #freebarsik."
Some fans jokingly referenced a series of now-deleted tweets from UFC legend Conor McGregor, who threatened to kick the Russian through a goalpost like a gaelic football. "I’d love to boot that little g**p Hasbulla over a goal post," He said in one message. "How much to get him on the volley? I’m gonna make it my mission to score a three pointer with him one day, hon the GAA."
The social media star was recently signed to the UFC on a promotional basis, with merchandise baring his likeness selling massive numbers for the MMA promotion. President Dana White is a big fan of Magomedov's, as are YouTube stars the Nelk boys, who have taken him under their wing in America as he attempts to broaden his appeal.
White told Barstool Sports : back in October that "Yes, we did sign Hasbulla. What he's going to end up doing remains to be seen." The Russian later attended his Power Slap finale, with White heaping praise on the 20-year-old saying: "Hasbulla's awesome, it was good to have him here.
"He flew out here [to Las Vegas] for this event and he's been great. What the Nelk Boys have done for this guy is unbelievable. When they went out to Russia, this is how powerful Hasbulla is, they did all this cool s*** with him and they said 'we're going to make a Hasbulla Full Send t-shirt'.
"They sold $500,000-worth of Hasbulla t-shirts in like 48 hours, something ridiculous like that. They gave him half the money for the stuff. We did a deal with Hasbulla, we signed him to a deal, he's going to be in the video game, he gets his own fight kit and he got paid for that. That dude's doing some cool s*** and making some big money."
