While the entire sporting community was mourning the demise of the legendary Diego Armando Maradona, something awkward was happening in the world of MMA.
We all know MMA is full of wonders – we’ve seen a lot of crazy fights over the years – but never in this world could anyone have envisaged the weird fight that graced Russia on November 27, 2020.
In what was billed “Our Business,” we saw a shocking match-up between a tiny-looking female martial artist and a super-big heavy-looking male blogger.
Not only was the fight comical because of its inter-gender nature, but the fact that the two fighters were of significantly opposing sizes makes the fight even more amusing.
On the one hand, we had the 139lb Darina Madzyuk. And on the other hand, there was the “super-heavyweight blogger” Grigory Chistyakov, who weighed 529lb and boasted a 390-pound weight advantage over his opponent.
Dec 14, 2019; Las Vegas, NV, USA; (Editor’s Note: Graphic Content) Kamaru Usman (red gloves) reacts as referee Marc Goddard stops his bout against Colby Covington (blue gloves) during UFC 245 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports
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But in a shocking turn of events, it was Darina who emerged victorious from the fight.
Not only did she floor Chistyakov in a truly remarkable fashion, but she also tapped the big blogger out in the first round.
It was a classic TKO at its very best!
Let me joke a little by saying, “this is definitely up there with the best TKOs you’ve ever seen. Even McGregor would be proud of this.”
If only we took the hint from Chistyakov’s pre-match drama
If you were a prophet, you would have guessed from Chistyakov’s pre-match drama that he was billed to fail on the night. The madness was clearly obvious from the get-go.
The behemoth Chistyakov did the Vince McMahon/Conor McGregor ‘billionaire strut’ to the cage – then rolled around on the mat in a way we’ve definitely never seen in the world of MMA.
Madzyuk, on the other hand, managed to keep her focus as she walked down to the ring.
At the start of the fight, it was all Chistyakov, with the big fighter comfortably bullying the small Madzyuk. With his early advantage, he was able to bully his opponent into the side of the cage. But soon after, the pair were separated.
Briefly, after separation, the action returned to the center of the cage, and the female bantamweight began to land a barrage of stinging punches, body shots, and headshots on the big man. In no time at all, Chistyakov fell to the floor in a remarkably amusing fashion.
Realizing that her foe had toppled down, Madzyuk didn’t even waste any time before bombarding the big man with tons of headshots as he laid helpless on the ground.
In the end, he was forced to tap out.
Oops, it seems the fight wasn’t accepted by many MMA lovers.
As you may have guessed, the fight was met with the harshest of criticisms from every corner of MMA, so much so that Twitter was crawling with thousands of savage comments.
Even UFC referee, Marc Goddard, joined in on the criticism.
“This is what we are dealing with – in 2020,” he wrote. “This is what we are fighting against as the parallels & negative connotations are continually drawn.
“To outsiders & detractors, this is MMA. Shameful. Sickening. Abysmal.”
Grigory Chistyakov isn’t throwing the towel in
In case you’re wondering how the result affected Grigory Chistyakov, his reaction post-match gives a glimpse into what the future holds for the blogger.
According to him, “After this fight, I will start to train actively,” said a defeated Chistyakov after the fight. “I will try to lead more or less a healthy lifestyle. Blogger Nastya Tuki-Tuk will be my coach.”
Then, reliving his defeat, he said, philosophically: “It happened. She hit me fine, and I fell. Although she is small … I lay on her back, but she did not fall, and then I didn’t know what to do.”
Another amusing scene was created post-fight
The final image of triumph was Madzyuk photographed with her foot on her fallen opponent (who may well still be lying there now, getting his breath back).
Although this fight may be remembered as one of the lowest-points of MMA, the comical sight of Madzyuk’s tiny legs on Chistyaov’s big belly will surely go down as one of the funniest moments in the history of the sport.
