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Michigan basketball's Ignas Brazdeikis ready to shoulder heavy workload

John Beilein previews unbeaten Michigan's game against Indiana on Sunday in Ann Arbor. Recorded Jan. 4, 2019. Nick Baumgardner, Freep

In another world, Ignas Brazdeikis could be doing all of this inside a caged octagon or a squared circle.

"Fighting was my first sport," Michigan's star freshman forward said Friday afternoon. "I didn't pick up a basketball before I picked up some gloves."

The Lithuanian-born Brazdeikis is the son of an athletic father, Sigis Brazdeikis, who began to put his son through fighting workouts before anything ever happened on a basketball court.