“There was a guy who beat me in the Olympic semifinals – his name is Khadzhimurat Gatsalov,” MMAnews quoted the American as saying. “We’re lucky this s**** son didn’t fight, because he would have beaten everyone, including Jon Jones. That dude would have kicked everyone’s ass.”
“He was really good. He wrestled me in the Olympics and he beat us all. He beat me, Cal Sanderson, Kyle Snyder – he beat all the top American wrestlers for a long time.”
It should be noted that in 2014, Khadzhimurat Gatsalov helped Daniel Cormier prepare for his first fight with Jon Jones, and at that time was also close to trying his hand at MMA.
“A lot of people ask me, will I move to MMA? I will answer this way: if I move, it will not be for the sake of the attempt itself, but in order to dominate,” the Russian wrote eight years ago on a social network.
Khadzhimurat Gatsalov, 40, won the 2004 Athens Olympics, and is also a five-time world champion and three-time European champion. In 2023, the Honored Master of Sports of Russia was appointed head coach of the Russian freestyle wrestling team.