80-year-old Russian man fights bear that pushed him off cliff

An 80-year-old Russian man and a bear stood in each corner of the ring, which in this case was a raspberry patch in the south of Russia, and while the odds weren't in his favour, the octogenarian threw every punch he had.

The Guardian reported the story of Yusuf Alchagirov, a shepherd in the Kabardino-Balkaria region, who was attacked by a bear last week. Alchagirov, unwilling to back down, headbutted and kicked the bear until it fell over, according to the Guardian. Metro UK reported he bonked the bear on the nose a few times. The angry animal fought back, throwing the elderly man over a cliff, but Alchagirov wasn't down for the count.

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This week he was recovering at home while eating pies from his family, recounting the tale of his unlikely survival. He had four broken ribs and a number of other injuries, but he told the Guardian he wouldn't have survived if he hadn't fought. The attacker might have been a black bear, but its species isn't confirmed.

In October, a black bear flung itself at a New Brunswick man, growling and bearing its teeth. After ruling out a tongue-lashing, perhaps, Gilles Cyr opted for a tongue-pulling instead — he yanked the animal's tongue and then fled, sustaining only scratch wounds to his belly and knee, according to the CBC.

"It's like ... an extreme sport," Cyr joked to the CBC.