Bellator's Georgi Karakhanyan (right), pictured here in a fight against Anthony Leone, is one of a small number of vegetarian MMA fighters. He will fight Bubba Jenkins on Friday in Bellator 132 at Pechanga Casino and Resort

Where Bellator featherweight Georgi Karakhanyan comes from, vegetables are an afterthought in the food pyramid, beer and vodka are table staples -- even for children -- and everyone consumes copious amounts of meat, perhaps in an attempt to ward off the bitter omnipresent cold thats accepted as part of daily life in Russia.

Karakhanyan might still crave a hot dog every now and then -- especially when hes trying to cut weight before a big fight -- but his meat eating days are over. The 5-foot-8, 145-pound featherweight swore off meat about eight years ago after he watched a PETA video and was horrified by how animals were treated.

Karakhanyan, 29, will be the only vegetarian fighter on the Bellator 132 main card when he takes on Bubba Jenkins as the featured featherweight bout at the Pechanga Resort & Casino on Friday night.

Theres a small but devoted community of vegetarian fighters in MMA. Former UFC great Mac Danzig is vegan, and was the first guy Karakhanyan called for advice when he decided to give up meat. World Series of Fighting welterweight Jake Shields grew up vegetarian, and the UFCs brothers Nick and Nate Diaz are both vegan.

But vegetarianism is still unusual in the MMA world where meat-based protein is as much a staple in most fighters diets as vodka was in the land of Karakhanyans youth.

Born in Moscow to Armenian parents, Karakhanyan moved to the United States with his family when he was 10. They eventually settled in Riverside, where Karakhanyan still lives.

Right off the bat, the boy was smitten with two ubiquitous aspects of American life: fast food and sports.

His eyes lit up at every glimpse of McDonalds golden arches, something of a delicacy in Russia, and the place where teenage boys would take their dates. During his earliest days in America, Karakhanyan was a frequent patron at McDonalds, where it became his tradition to devour a large McFlurry before inhaling a burger.

To offset the junk food, he played soccer -- a sport hed picked up as a kid in Russia, cheering on hometown team Spartak Moscow, and dreaming of one day playing for his favorite team, La Ligas Barcelona FC.

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'Insane' Russian fights Jenkins on veg diet