When VICE reporter Alzo Slade traveled to Dagestan to document the wrestling programs that have produced Olympic gold medalists and UFC champions, he wasn’t exactly sure what to expect.
He heard that the Russian republic was notorious for producing some of the hardest working and dedicated athletes in combat sports, but even that, didn’t prepare him for the first day of training on a mountaintop.
“I like to think that I’m in shape, but what those guys do it’s the real deal,” Slade told MMA Fighting after spending several days in Dagestan. “The MMA guys in the mountains, we wake up around 6:30 or 7 o’clock, right when the sun’s coming up.