A stadium shaped like UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s furry hat, a papakha, could be coming to Dagestan. Bloody Elbow’s Karim Zidan reports architects proposed to build the 7,000 seat stadium and are awaiting necessary approval and funding for the project to move forward.
The proposed plans for the stadium include gyms, training facilities, a hotel, and a museum that showcases Dagestani athletes. Khabib has not commented on the reports as of this writing. He is currently serving a nine-month suspension for his involvement in the post-UFC 229 brawl. Per a report from kp.ru, the new proposed stadium has created controversy amongst locals.
One anonymous source commented that “Dagestan must show that besides the fists, our guys have brains! I have nothing against it, but they wanted to close the city hospital due to insufficient funding.”
Another local, who was unidentified, was completely against the idea:
“Residents of Dagestan unanimously declared that the republic needs to develop not sport, but more important areas like education and medicine, for example.”
What do you think about the proposed Dagestani stadium?
