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Entourage may have been a work of fiction (albeit one loosely based on true events), but there are plenty of real-life examples of people getting a taste of the celebrity lifestyle while riding the coattails of a rich and famous friend.
If you keep tabs on the UFC, then there’s a very good chance you’re familiar with Hasbulla Magomedov, the viral sensation who burst onto the scene thanks in no small part to his friendship with the now-retired Khabib Nurmagomedov.
The man commonly referred to as simply “Hasbulla” first made a name for himself thanks to a video where he did his best impression of the formidable Russian grappler that saw him channel Khabib’s body language at the weigh-in prior to his fight with Conor McGregor at UFC 229.
That video eventually came to the fighter’s attention, and Hasbulla got the chance to meet Nurmagomedov and served as his unofficial mascot until the celebrated MMA fighter retired with an undefeated record in 2021.
Khabib may have willingly stepped out of the spotlight, but Hasbulla (who stands at an estimated 3’4″ due to the achondroplastic dwarfism he’s been diagnosed with) has done what he can to remain front and center after seeing his hero hang up his gloves.
McGregor may not be a huge fan of the man who hails from Makhachkala, Russia, but Hasbulla has managed to amass over 8 million followers on Instagram and cross paths with a number of other high-profile figures in the MMA world and beyond (including Mike Tyson, who caught a bit of heat for treating the 20-year-old like a child when they met in 2023).
Hasbulla’s social media feeds are littered with envy-inducing photos and videos, which naturally begs the question: how does he afford his seemingly lavish lifestyle?
Well, here’s a closer look.
What Is Hasbulla’s Net Worth?
As is the case with many internet celebrities, it’s a bit difficult to settle upon a definitive number when it comes to calculating their net worth—but we can still take an educated guess based on some of the information that’s surfaced over the years.
Hasbulla was likely able to leverage some of his social media clout into tangible income thanks to sponsors who are more than willing to pay to have their products promoted online (while he’s likely received free swag and trips, those don’t really factor into his overall net worth).
It’s hard to imagine anyone who got in on the ground floor of the NFT collection he launched in 2022 is swimming in cash as a result, but he likely received a solid sum for allowing his likeness to be used for the project.
However, it’s doubtful the amount of money he was able to generate through those kinds of ventures comes close to what he received when he signed a five-year contract with the UFC in 2022 after the company opted to secure his services for promotional purposes.
The details of that deal weren’t publically disclosed, but Igor Lazorin (the MMA writer who broke the news) implied Hasbulla was getting paid more than some of the people who put their bodies on the line in The Octagon; while he declined to share an exact number, he said that “there are many fighters who do not get that much.”
The average UFC fighter takes home around $160,000 per year, and it’s not a stretch to suggest Hasbulla’s annual paycheck is north of that number (although probably not to a wild degree).
As a result, I’d argue it’s reasonable to suggest he could earn around $1 million from his partnership with the UFC when everything is said and done.
With that said, it will almost certainly be paid out in yearly installments, which means estimates that place his current net worth around the $200,000 mark don’t seem too off the mark (although that number seems destined to rise a great deal in the coming years based on his current trajectory).