BE alum Jonathan Snowden has a profile on M-1 welterweight champion Shamil Zavurov at SBNation.com/MMA. From the piece: "Almost entirely hidden from the eye of the American media, gunfire, car bombs, and military action sporadically pop up in Dagestan and have for nearly a decade. It was in this environment, in the mountains of North Caucasus, that I was able to touch base with M-1 Global's rising star Shamil Zavurov, a month removed from his fight with Yasubey Enomoto and already preparing for whoever steps up as his next challenger. Plenty of fighters talk about "iron sharpening iron." But Zavurov is a warrior truly forged in the heart of a decades long war. A devout Muslim, Zavurov is a product of his homeland, his people, his culture." Photo courtesy of M-1 Global