Inside the lawless world of Russian MMA - from no weight limits to gender-blind rounds
dailystar.co.ukMMA or mixed martial arts can be a strange sport seemingly free of rules and safety measures.In reality though, it's a highly organised sport with clear structures, safety protocols and exceptionally professional fighters trained to operate to the same standards and expectations of other pro athletes.But for Epic Fight Challenge, Russia's off-the-beaten-track fight promotion, much of the above does not apply.While more conventional fight sports are bound by restrictive and boring things like weight classes and gender-based matchups, Epic Fight Championship does away with all that.
A woman fighting a man four times her weight? Sure. Two blokes fighting one woman? Why not.Welcome to the weird and wonderful world of Russian MMA.The short answer is, as far as we can tell, basically anyone.
The latest bout to make its way into the headlines was an unlikely battle between Grigory Chistyakov - a man - and female fighter Aleksandra Stepakova.As well as the glaring biological differences, Grigory weighed in at an eye-watering 32 stone.
Meanwhile, Aleksandra clocked in at just eight, meaning she came to just a quarter of the weight of her competitor.To make matters more surprising, the fight went the distance, with the heavyweight unable to knock out his rival who managed to land a few blows of her own on him.
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