MMA fighter shot in the chest hours before scheduled fight in Russia

An MMA fighter was hospitalized after being shot in the chest following an altercation at a gym in Moscow, Russia. According to Tass.ru, Bagdat…

By: Karim Zidan | 2 years ago
MMA fighter shot in the chest hours before scheduled fight in Russia
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

An MMA fighter was hospitalized after being shot in the chest following an altercation at a gym in Moscow, Russia.

According to Tass.ru, Bagdat Dyusembaev was reportedly shot during a “conflict with a security guard” at an unnamed training facility on Feb. 16. The culprit used a “traumatic pistol,” which is a less-than-lethal pistol designed in Russia in the 1990s that shoot either a rubber bullet or steel balls coated in rubber. The shooter fled shortly thereafter while the victim was hospitalized in stable condition.

The incident took place less than 24 hours prior to when Dyusembaev was scheduled to compete for Hardcore Fighting Championships, a Russian fight organization based in Moscow. Dyusembaev, a middleweight fighter and native of Kazakhstan, was to be featured in the co-main event against Russia’s Mikhail Avakyan.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs in Russia announced plans to conduct an investigation into the incident. Hardcore Fighting Championships has yet to release a statement acknowledging the situation.

Dyusembaev, 30, holds a 2-4-1 amateur record in Russia, as well as an 0-2 pro record after suffering a TKO loss to Yaroslav Kuk and a decision loss to Danila Volkov.

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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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