UFC flyweight Ali Bagautinov carries Olympic torch in Russia

Just days after picking up his third win in the UFC, Ali Bagautinov was back home in his motherland for a once-in-a-lifetime honor.

Bagautinov, from the Russian republic of Dagestan, got to carry the Olympic torch ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, which open this week in Sochi, Russia.

Bagautinov posted a picture of himself with the torch on his Instagram feed.

The Olympic torch relay takes place for both the summer and winter Games and starts in Greece, the home of the Olympics. The torch then travels around the world to the site of the Games. For the Sochi Olympics, the torch traveled through nearly 3,000 towns in Russia.

Bagautinov’s manager, Kamil Gadzhiyev, told MMAjunkie the flyweight was supposed to carry the torch in his home region of Dagestan. But he was in the middle of his camp for his fight this past Saturday against John Lineker.

Instead, he was given the chance to carry it in Krasnodar on the 121st day of the relay – and the final stop before the torch reached Sochi today.

Bagautinov (13-2 MMA, 3-0 UFC) fought Lineker on the main card of UFC 169 in Newark, N.J., and won the fight by unanimous decision to stay unbeaten in the UFC.

For complete coverage of UFC 169, stay tuned to the UFC Events section of the site.