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Biography
Ali Nurullah Hasan (b. 1867 or 1870 in Bıyıklı village near Şumnu, Danube Vilayet, Ottoman Empire – d. 1912 in Istanbul, Ottoman Empire) was a Turkish wrestler. He was known with his nickname as Filiz Nurullah Pehlivan to the Turkish public whereas he used the alias Hassan Nurullah for his professional wrestling career in Western Europe. He stood 7'2" (218 cm) tall and weighed 387 lbs (175 kg).
When he was eleven years of age Nurullah was circumcised, and was trained in oil wrestling by Yusuf İsmail. In 1894, Yusuf İsmail accompanied him and Kara Osman of Plovdiv on their journey to Paris, organised by French former wrestler and promoter Joseph Doublier. Nurullah's impressive physique (standing 2.18 m (7'2") tall and weighing 175 kg (387 lbs), although exaggerated figures have also existed) was then noted as a tackle for finding eager opponents. Nevertheless, Nurullah trained in Greco-Roman wrestling and started competing at Folies Bergère by 1895.
Nurullah is renowned for his long rivalries with two formidable exponents of Greco-Roman wrestling: Paul Pons and Kara Ahmet.
Nurullah quit wrestling in 1911 and died a year later in Istanbul.
