Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin attended the Mixed Fight European Championship accompanied by Jean-Claude Van Damme and Fedor Emelianenko.
The Mixed Fight European Championship was held in Sochi on Wednesday night. The well-known Hollywood actor and martial arts expert Jean-Claude Van Damme and the legendary heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter Fedor Emelianenko were its guests of honour. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who found time to visit the tournament during his visit to Sochi, appeared in the hall two minutes before the match between the heavyweight fighters kicked off.
Jean-Claude Van Damme was sitting on Vladimir Putin’s right and Fedor Emelianenko on his left. After talking with the Hollywood star, the prime minister turned to Fedor Emelianenko, asking him why he lost a recent fight for the title of the Mixed Fight World Champion. It was a conversation between two professionals; Putin is a judo black belt, after all.
“I attacked too early, I wanted to make the fight as technical as possible,” Fedor Emelianenko clarified. “I just needed to finish him off neatly.”
The guests of honour hosted the awards ceremony for members of the Sambo-70 club who defeated the European contenders 4-1. Vitaly Minakov, the Sambo-70 club’s best fighter, was personally awarded the keys to a quad bike (the main prize) by Governor of the Krasnodar Territory Alexander Tkachev.
Vladimir Putin presented the winner team with the Gold Cup. “Dear friends, I would like to thank you” the prime minister said, addressing the winners. “This is a very harsh type of martial arts indeed. We all saw the girl wiping blood, not water or even sweat, away from the ring. Of course, some people like such fights, while some disapprove of them. But there is no denying that these men are very courageous. I would like to thank our country’s athletes and our guests from Europe for the selflessness they showed during their fights. It’s time to promote mixed martial arts as a future Olympic sport. Fist-fighting was a traditional pastime in old Russia. Peoples of our multinational country have practiced different kinds of wrestling. But most modern forms of martial art are derived from sambo. I believe that it is high time that sambo became an Olympic Sport. Anyway, our sporting officials must put this question to the Olympic Committee and even insist on it.”
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Jean-Claude Van Damme fell victim to a warm welcome.
On the eve of the Championship the actor decided to visit a local nightclub called Malibu, accompanied by his bodyguard. On leaving the hotel there was a taxi mix-up. The local Armenian cab driver, called Apo, was lucky enough to give the celebrity a lift. No sooner had they set off, than Apo’s mother called him.
The elderly woman asked him what he was doing. Apo told her that he was just giving a lift to Hollywood star Jean-Claude Van Damme. Apo’s mother advised him to take the actor to their house, rather than the night club. The cab driver liked the idea, and that was how the Hollywood star ended up visiting numerous members of the Armenian diaspora, famous for their hospitality, instead of going to the night club. His whereabouts was only discovered in the morning. He returned to the hotel with his bodyguard, animated after his night-time adventures. During the championship the actor was seen downing copious amounts of water.
Alexander Boiko