'Tony you're in trouble!' Khabib Nurmagomedov prepares for UFC title fight by battling Dagestani rapids (VIDEO)

It is probably not a huge surprise to some that Khabib Nurmagomedov, the UFC champion who wrestled bears as a boy, is training for his rumored upcoming fight with Tony Ferguson by once again battling with Mother Nature.

A video posted to Instagram shows the UFC's 155lb king aggressively swimming against strong rapids in a river in Kizilyurt, a town in Dagestan around 30 miles outside of Makhachkala. 

In the video, Nurmagomedov performs a front crawl against a current which appears to be pushing him backward with every stroke. 

Nonetheless Khabib, who is famous for his cardio inside the UFC octagon, appears undeterred and continues fighting gamely against the water.

The video once again highlights the Russian's unorthodox training tactics and comes weeks after he was publicly criticized by animal rights watchdog PETA for what they saw as cruel treatment of animals after videos emerged of Khabib wrestling a muzzled bear which was tethered to the ground by a chain.

While nothing has been made formal as of yet, Nurmagomedov is widely expected to face top contender Tony Ferguson in his next defense of the UFC lightweight championship.

A fight between the two has been scheduled on no less than four previous occasions but each one fell apart for a variety of reasons related to injuries and bad weight cuts.

Ferguson, who has posted an 18-1 record in the last decade, is widely considered to be Nurmagomedov's toughest challenge and often posts similarly odd training videos to social media which show him incorporating dance moves into his preparations, as well as repeatedly kicking a steel a bar in order to "toughen up" his shins.

But whose off-the-wall training regime will prove best? Only a matchup inside the octagon will truly decide, and fight fans across the world are crossing their fingers that the UFC can finally make the bout a reality.