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Student dies after blow from MMA champ
Published: 19 August, 2011, 14:56
Edited: 26 August, 2011, 16:11
Rasul Mirzaev (Image from sportbox.ru)
TAGS: Crime, Russia, Martial Arts
A Moscow student who was severely injured in a street fight with MMA Lightweight Champion, Rasul Mirzaev, has died in one of the capital’s hospitals.
Mirzaev presented himself to the police voluntarily on Friday evening. The 25-year-old athlete confessed to hurting the young man and was detained following questioning.
"If he’s really guilty – if after his punch a man has died – then, he said: ‘I'll take the responsibility, it's not mannish to try to run away when something like this happens’,” Igor Dergachev, Mirzaev’s lawyer, told Rossiya 24 channel. “He’s very sorry and he’s going to apologize to the student’s parents. Of course, it is impossible to compensate such loss, but he’ll do everything to somehow redeem himself."
According to the Moscow police, "the conflict occurred on August 13 in the center of Moscow not far from the ‘Garage’ night club. During an argument, Mirzaev punched student Ivan Agafonov after which the latter demanded urgent medical help.”
The doctors were fighting for Angafonov’s life for four days, but he passed away without regaining consciousness.
"This is a tragic concurrence of events,” Fight Night series promoter Kamil Gadzhiev told Interfax news agency. “This has nothing to do with hate crimes. It was just an everyday situation which turned into tragedy.”
Bloggers have been sharing information on the incident, claiming a radio-controlled car sparked the tragedy.
The student used his toy to start a conversation with one of the girls in front of the club when Mirzaev, who was spending the evening with the young woman, took umbrage.
An argument began and the mixed martial arts specialist, nicknamed the Black Tiger, delivered just one blow to the young man. But it was so powerful that Angafonov landed a meter away and hit the pavement with his head.
A criminal case on charges of deliberately inflicting grievous bodily harm resulting in the death has already been launched against Mirzaev.
Rasul Mirzaev clamed the MMA Lightweight Champion belt in June this year, knocking out Masanori Kanehara of Japan.
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Mirzaev is a great athlete. He is probably right by claiming that he is unparalleded by any fighter in the Russian Federation (RF) today. Regardless of how this case turns out, he must not be allowed to represent RF in any future international events. Who would want to cheer for an athlete who murdered an innocent student?
I train MMA too and I disagree. I've used my martial arts to negate an attackers agression on the street and was able to do so without hurting them. However this attacker kept on coming back and back and back, and would not stop. Also, I have also suffered a horrible beating because I would not utilise my Martial Arts for fear of seriously damaging my attacker and causing injury or death. The fact is in a street confrontation, you can not do anything other than take the attitude of "Him or me", and unfortunately people get killed.
This fighter probably wasn't the aggressor in this instance, and in my oppinion, as tragic as the mans death is, if he started the fight then Mirzaev had the right to defend himself, regardless of the consequences for his attacker.