Social media star Hasbulla apologises after ‘he is arrested for driving offences’

Social media star Hasbulla Magomedov has apologized after he and several of his friends were charged with dangerous driving by police in his hometown.

The diminutive Russian influencer was filmed last weekend on the streets of Makhachkala – the capital of the Russian Republic of Dagestan – on a wild ride amidst wedding celebrations.

While not driving himself, Hasbulla was seen standing in one car as multiple drivers blocked sections of the highway before performing donuts, burnouts, and racing through traffic.

The Ministry of Interior of Dagestan released a video yesterday of the perpetrators, including the 90 cm tall Hasbulla, lined up in a local police station to explain their actions.

Hasbulla later posted an update on social media to acknowledge the incident, but stressed that he was not driving any of the cars.

“We decided to blow it up a bit… this won’t happen again, our apologies. We played around and had to justify ourselves,” he said.

“It wasn’t my car and I wasn’t behind the wheel.”

Hasbulla is in the passenger seat in a car that took part in the wild parties

Hasbulla later posted an update on social media to acknowledge the incident, but stressed that he was not driving any of the cars. “We decided to blow it up a bit… this won’t happen again, our apologies. We played around and had to justify ourselves,” he said

Influencer Hasbulla Magomedov attends the UFC 280 event at the Etihad Arena on October 22, 2022 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

The Ministry of Interior of Dagestan released a statement explaining the situation and noting the extent of the festivities that resulted in Hasbulla’s trip to the police station.

“Unbridled wedding fun, Dagestan-style, is famous far beyond the borders of the republic,” it read.

“In the absence of other forms of entertainment, this primitive option remains hugely popular: blocking roads, burning rubber and crashing cars into each other, which has nothing really to do with wedding parties.

“All those who took part in the ‘wedding emotions’, as they called it, were taken to the police and reported for violations.

“The number of people involved is remarkable – some movie studios can’t claim to have that many operators.”

20-year-old Hasbulla launched his viral online career in 2020 when he started sharing videos of his escapades in Dagestan, his native country.

He suffers from growth hormone deficiency or “dwarfism” – a genetic condition that occurs when there are insufficient amounts of growth hormone in the body – and is only 3 feet 3 inches tall.

His early videos typically showed the kid-sized influencer performing extreme activities, such as riding around on his friend’s lap or getting into fights with those taller than himself, while ranting in an instantly recognizable high-pitched voice.

Since then he has collected more than 9 million followers on his Instagram account and has become a bona fide internet sensation.

The 20-year-old man has suffered from a growth hormone deficiency all his life

The social media star has built a close relationship with Dagestani MMA fighters such as former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov

The Dagestani influencer has appeared in the octagon several times after fights. He is pictured here in October after Islam Makhachev’s lightweight title victory

Hasbulla released a video explaining the situation with his cat and banishing suggestions that he was an animal abuser

Last October, Hasbulla, who is friends with a string of elite mixed martial artists from Dagestan, including former UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and current UFC lightweight champion Islam Makhachev, announced that he had signed a promotional contract with the UFC.

He is said to have a good relationship with UFC President Dana White and is tasked with taking the UFC brand to the next level through his amazing social media reach.

The people of Dagestan are known for their prowess in martial arts, especially freestyle wrestling, sambo and mixed martial arts, and Hasbulla has appeared at numerous UFC events in recent months – even caged after Makhachev’s stunning title win about former champion Charles Oliviera at UFC 280 in October.

The influencer was then criticized in March after he shared a video online of him pulling his cat’s ear.

He was hammered by animal rights activists who claimed he mistreated the animal, but Hasbulla insisted he had done nothing wrong, stating that he was disciplining the cat for bad behavior and not acting too aggressively.

“Those brothers who think I was hitting the cat, pulling the ear, this and that… I gently pulled the ear,” he said in a video released on social media.

“I know people are waiting for the moment when if I write something wrong they can just attack me like that.

“Like, ‘you do this, you do that’.” She misbehaved and I just pulled the ear and that was it.

“I love my cat more than you. If I didn’t love the cat, I wouldn’t have him in the house. My favorite animal is a cat.

“And when she disobeyed, I scolded her a little bit. And you attack me for nothing.’