Imagine you are a hungry teenage wrestler from Moscow – training alone in the gym, as you have done since the age of six – grinding towards that MMA dream of yours. Then wrestling stars-turned-MMA legends Daniel Cormier and Muhammed Lawal suddenly stroll in. “DC” and “King Mo” – alongside the rest of the US wrestling team – are in town for a grapple against some of Russia’s notoriously high-level and unbreakable wrestlers, of which there are many. The problem is, “Mo” & Co. do not speak Russian, and neither of your Russian peers can converse in English. “I was around 15 training MMA in my hometown in Moscow – the same year the US wrestling team came,” recounted MMA manager Gennady Kolesnikov, who gained his first taste of being the crucial behind-the-scenes fixer then and there. “King Mo and Cormier were there practising for a tournament and I was the only one who could speak English. “It wasn’t as good as it is right now, but I knew a couple of words. That’s pretty much how we met. That was 2007 – that’s how long we’ve known each other. Every time we talk they say: ‘it’s crazy how fast time flies because when we met you, you were just a kid but now you’re a grown man!” added the 29-year-old former competitive wrestler. View this post on Instagram 3 amigos #brothers A post shared by Gennady “King G” Kolesnikov (@gennady_kolesnikov) on Nov 23, 2019 at 9:48pm PST Kolesnikov, unsharpened wrestling and English skills at hand, would become the team’s “Russian ambassador” every time they frequented the capital. Over time, he would be introduced to division one collegiate wrestler, US national wrestling champion and current Bellator fighter Shawn Bunch. Bunch, who like Cormier and Lawal is part of the world-renowned American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) in San Jose, California, would help Kolesnikov make the move to the States. The now-retired Lawal, a former Strikeforce and Rizin champion, would grace Kolesnikov with the nickname “King G” – perhaps a little reminder of his influence on the man more familiarly known as “King Mo”. Meanwhile, former UFC double champion Daniel Cormier referenced “King G” earlier this year while telling a tale of lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov’s early days at the gym. “The nickname stuck through my wrestling career and training,” said Kolesnikov, who three years after their first encounter was invited to the US Olympic Centre in Colorado Springs. Cormier had touched on Kolesnikov’s instrumental role in bringing undefeated Dagestani Khabib to AKA. Not bad for a hookup, considering Khabib is now one of the UFC’s biggest stars, beating the likes of Conor McGregor in 2018 and Dustin Poirier in 2019. “It was this guy called King G – Gennady – a guy from Russia who was like this tie between Khabib and King Mo,” Cormier told ESPN. “He started talking to Mo, and Mo was telling him to ‘come to AKA, dawg’, and Khabib was intrigued. He came to AKA, and it’s so crazy watching the evolution of who Khabib is today opposed to back then.” Kolesnikov was thankful that his elite Russian combat sports knowledge and constant planting of the seed in Lawal’s mind paid off. Khabib, who was just debuted in the UFC, was looking for a new gym ahead of his next fight. The rest is history. View this post on Instagram @dc_mma tells @arielhelwani about @khabib_nurmagomedov’s early days at AKA A post shared by ESPN MMA (@espnmma) on Mar 24, 2020 at 8:58am PDT “It’s cool because I’ve known Daniel since he was a wrestler and now he’s like the UFC’s biggest star. Him shouting me out is great. He’s a loyal person, same as Mo,” he said. “Me and Mo would talk about other fights, and I told him to look up Khabib. Mo said ‘he’s gonna be a champion’ – he has great vision and he knew from that day. I told him if he had a chance to bring Khabib to AKA, he gotta do it. Back then we had Luke Rockhold, Cain Velasquez, Mo, Cormier, Jon Fitch, Josh Thomson ... a bunch of beasts.” Kolesnikov trained with 2012 Olympic gold medallist and multiple-world champion Jordan Burroughs and current UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman, among others. He soon moved to Iowa State University to link up with another Olympic gold medallist wrestler in Kevin Jackson. He later returned home having opted to stop training wrestling full-time, replacing it with a career in MMA management. “Right now I’m with Upgrade Management Russia with Julian Gregorio. He manages [UFC fighters] Bryan Ortega and Dominick Reyes. We are also helping out many young prospects, one of them being Trevin ‘Five Star’ Jones living out of Guam,” Kolesnikov said. The pair had landed a deal with a Russian promotion but the ongoing pandemic brought it all to an abrupt halt. While they are somewhat back to square one, Kolesnikov said Jones is still gunning for a UFC place while keeping an open eye on promotions such as One Championship, Bellator and Rizin. The lack of career prospects and unstable income is common within combat sports. Kolesnikov explained the endless sacrifices required to maintain a professional career in fighting. View this post on Instagram Punching and moving OK coming out of quarantine, All I really need is 3 weeks notice and I’ll give somebody another L. My last 3 fights were only 3 weeks notice. I believe that’s just enough to time to get something good going, of course I would love more time but I’ll take what I get, 135 or 145. #letsrunit #mma #ufc #champion #newmoney #champchamp #gu #pxcchamp #135lb #hwpo #mytimeiscoimg @danawhite @seanshelby @mickmaynard2 @ufc @upgrademg @gennady_kolesnikov A post shared by Trevin Jones (@trev5starjones) on Jun 2, 2020 at 5:47am PDT “I had no coach for years, man. I was training myself and the hunger in me kept going until I got to the US,” he said. “I know a lot of fighters who are starving and training the gym, but they don’t have a manager to help them. The MMA career is not forever; it’s important to get things going when you’re peaking,” he said. What with his experience training with several world-class stars – and not forgetting his ability to scout Khabib before many – Kolesnikov is extremely knowledgeable about finding the right recipe to “make it” in MMA’s top-tier. He said “every second fighter” in Russia is ready to step into the UFC Octagon but requires just one or two more fights as a brushing up on English skills. “This is the thing: you might be really skilled, but you have to have a good mindset and be mentally strong to be able to cut weight and everything,” said Kolesnikov, adding that Khabib’s father Abdulmanap played a paramount role in creating the fighter he is today. “You might be a freak town but if you don't put in the hard work, you won't reach your potential ... when Khabib got signed to the UFC, back then he was a 100 per cent wrestler. Today to be a wrestler is not enough. You gotta have some other skills, like speak English, to be on media. “Khabib's huge plus is that he has a father to get to the level that he's at. He grew up training smart because his father showed him everything he knows right now from a young age. He doesn't know how to do things wrong, only right, and not many people understand that. People look at him and think ‘he's from Dagestan, he knows nothing else but fighting’, but he made it because his father helped him.” As the 57-year-old Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov continues to be in “very serious” condition with Covid-19 , Kolesnikov sent hit thoughts and prayers before recounting their meeting in April of last year. He hopes this concerning news acts as a wake-up call for those who still refuse to believe the coronavirus is a legitimate threat. View this post on Instagram С днём рождения @abdulmanap.nurmagomedov ! Здоровья и всех благ!!! #лучшийизлучших A post shared by Gennady “King G” Kolesnikov (@gennady_kolesnikov) on Dec 10, 2019 at 10:56am PST “When there was UFC Russia in St Petersburg I saw AKA coach Javier [Mendez] and Khabib's father in the lobby talking to each other. The funny thing is they were trying to talk through Google Translate. I went in with great timing – I knew Javier – and I said I speak English and helped them translate and communicate for a couple of hours, Kolesnikov said. “I'm praying for him. He's a great person and example for the young generation, he helped to grow these fighters in Dagestan. You might be a good coach at whatever gym ... but they don't build them for the years since the beginning. Khabib's father grew fighters since they started walking – since the day they first tried on MMA gloves.”