Russian fighter Idris Abdurashidov has previously notched wins in MMA and Muay Thai matches, but he recently saw his boxing debut go south. The 21-year-old pugilist received what he claims to be a lifetime ban from the sport after a match in Thailand went off the rails.
According to The Independent, Abdurashidov was fighting undefeated Iranian boxer Bagher Faraji on Oct. 20 when he landed a head kick that instantly knocked Faraji out cold. The illegal move led to Abdurashidov's disqualification from the match, and seemingly from the sport as a whole.
After the match, Abdurashidov took to Instagram to share video of the moment and explained the consequences he faced as a result of his gnarly KO. "So I debuted in professional boxing, and [received] disqualification for life," he captioned the clip. "That kick with the leg, I threw like a machine gun."
Abdurashidov later went on to show that there's no hard feelings between him and his opponent he whacked on the head with his foot.
"We shook hands between us," he wrote on a photo of the two together. "Everything is fine; we made up."
Sina Ghalehbandi, another Iranian boxer, shared a video of Abdurashidov approaching Faraji after the match to dap him up and give him a friendly hug while calling him his "brother."
While things seem to be fine between the two boxers, commenters on Abdurashidov's posts were less forgiving. "You were getting embarrass[ed] and you had to cheat. Classless and I’m glad you’re banned for life. 0–1 boxing," one person wrote. "The [head] kick and running away [around] the ring, if it had continued for another 30 seconds, you would have been knocked out," another said.
As for Faraji's graciousness toward Abdurashidov, one person quipped, "This just shows he’s a good dude. It doesn’t negate the fact that you’re a clown who deserves a lifetime ban from combat sports."
Men's Journal has reached out to event organizers to confirm Abdurashidov's claims about his ban from the sport.
As it stands, Abdurashidov has a 4–0 MMA record and 3–0 Muay Thai record.