Magomed Abdulkadirov motivated by his family and desire to compete at the highest level: “I try to teach my son to love sports”

At ONE Fight Night 16, Magomed Abdulkadirov is set to make his ONE Championship debut by jumping right in at the deep end.

Looking to spoil his opponent’s celebrations, the Dagestan-born competitor finds himself competing for the inaugural ONE welterweight submission grappling world championship.

Facing off with Tye Ruotolo on November 3, the 32-year-old is excited to announce himself to ONE Championship fans and test himself against one of the best grapplers in the world during his first appearance inside the Circle.

Ahead of his debut with the promotion, the Russian competitor has been reflecting on the career and life path that he has gone down to reach this pinnacle of submission grappling.

Despite stating that he was molded into the competitor that he is now due to his tough upbringing, competing in martial arts wasn’t always the direction that his life was heading in.

In an interview with ONE Championship, Magomed Abdulkadirov spoke about the crossroads that he came to in his life and how he looks to use his experiences to help better the lives of his family.

Despite his studies, competing in sports was the pursuit that really captivated the Russian but now, he draws on his loved ones for the motivation to keep on pushing further and getting better:

“I am an ecologist by education, a graduate of DSU (Dagestan State University). But even during my studies, I was more focused on sports and often went to competitions. If it was not for sport, I would probably have gone into business.”

He added:

“Now my family members are my motivators. I try to teach my son to love sports, leading by my own example.”

ONE Fight Night 16 Haggerty vs. Andrade on Prime Video will air live on US Primetime free of charge for existing Prime Video subscribers in North America