MMA fighter turned crime boss loses eye after being arrested for alleged rape of minor

A former MMA fighter turned leader of a local Dagestani organized crime group was detained in Ussuriysk on suspicion of sexual involvement with a…

By: Karim Zidan | 4 years ago
MMA fighter turned crime boss loses eye after being arrested for alleged rape of minor
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

A former MMA fighter turned leader of a local Dagestani organized crime group was detained in Ussuriysk on suspicion of sexual involvement with a 13-year-old girl.

Abdul Zakharov — known by his nom de guerre, Rusik — was detained by operatives of the Bureau of Criminal Investigation of Russia’s Ministry fo Internal Affairs in the Primorye region by order of the Investigative Committee of Russia.

According to reports and video footage, the police officers who detained Abdul Zakharov for his latest alleged crime did so in brutal fashion, attacking him in broad daylight until he was unconscious. As a result, Rusik was reportedly hospitalized with a head injury and subsequently lost an eye. Rusik’s lawyer claimed that his client only resisted because he assumed the officers dressed in civilian clothing were actually criminals trying to “hunt him down.” He also claimed that they attempted to force Abdul Zakharov to confess to crimes he never committed.

On the other hand, the police officers stated in their defence that they expected Abdul Zakharov to attempt to resist arrest, which is why they acted with such violence. A criminal case against the police officers has been initiated in Ussuriysk.

Abdul Zakharov, a former MMA fighter who competed in the Vladivostok Pankration Championships alongside the likes of Andrey Koreshkov in 2011, is believed to be a part of a criminal network comprised of policemen and high-ranking employees of the Federal Security Service.

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About the author
Karim Zidan
Karim Zidan

Karim Zidan is a investigative reporter and feature writer focusing on the intersection of sports and politics. He has written for BloodyElbow since 2014 and has served as an associate editor since 2016. He also writes for The New York Times and The Guardian. Karim has been invited to speak about his work at numerous universities, including Princeton, and was a panelist at the South by Southwest (SXSW) film festival and the Oslo Freedom Forum. He also participated in the United Nations counter-terrorism conference in 2021. His reporting on Ramzan Kadyrov’s involvement in MMA, much of which was done for Bloody Elbow, has led to numerous award nominations, and was the basis of an award-winning HBO Real Sports documentary.

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