Olympic wrestling champion Balboshin recalls legendary grip strength

Five-time world champion and 1976 Olympic gold medalist Nikolay Balboshin shared stories about his legendary grip strength during his wrestling career. He described how he would squeeze opponents' forearms during matches, causing their hands to swell from restricted blood flow. Balboshin recounted breaking a medical dynamometer that measured grip strength when it maxed out at 120, and causing an opponent's hand to become so swollen the wrestler couldn't continue. He also mentioned making the King of Sweden's knuckles crack during a medal ceremony handshake. While this is wrestling-related rather than MMA, it provides historical combat sports content about an elite grappler's physical capabilities.