David was born on 26 October 1983 in Baku, Azerbaijan SSR to an Armenian family. David received his name from his uncle, his fathers brother. His uncle was a wrestler and took David to his practices. After the beginning of the First Nagorno-Karabakh War, the family was forced to move to Armenia and then later to Russia. They lived in Pyatigorsk for 13 years. The family rented a room in a four-storey apartment in which David's parents, brother and grandmother lived in.