RBC daily: "Ultimate fighting for Putin"
Prime minister to watch fighting finals at Sochi's Plotforma club.
Russian unarmed combat experts will compete with Brazilian ju-jitsu fighters at a premium Sochi club designed as an oil rig. Prime Minister Vladimir Putin will attend the event as a guest of honour, and so will Jean-Claude Van Damme. The famous actor was expected to arrive yesterday, but his airlines denied his dog admission to the plane in Bangkok. Thus, he had to change his flight.
The Mixed Fight Championship organised by the legendary Sambo-70 fighting school will take place at a lush offshore club near central Sochi, the trendiest place for federal-level gatherings.
"The closer the Olympics, the more events we'll host," said Sergei Krivonosov, the owner of Plotforma.
The prime minister's planned attendance was kept private until very recently.
"He will attend as a guest of honour," Renat Laishev, the general director of Sambo-70 finally admitted to RBC daily. Putin, who is now positioned as a judo expert, has in fact started his fighting career at an unarmed combat school. Now, he is actively promoting the inclusion of the sport in the Olympic Games.
"We are so grateful for his effort and we are trying our best to do something good for him, too," Laishev said. If he had chosen a professional fighting career, he would have achieved a lot, he added.
"Even now he is in perfect shape," Laishev said. "He is good to watch in the gym."
Other officials invited to attend the championships include Nature Minister Yury Trutnev, a karate expert, and Rosatom chief Sergei Kiriyenko who is an aikido fighter. The former said that he cannot attend because of the raging wildfires, but the latter agreed to present the award to the best foreign fighter. This year's event is intriguing because it will be a competition between Russian unarmed combat (Sambo) fighters and experts in the Brazilian version of the Japanese ju-jitsu.
A special prize has been prepared for the best Russian fighter, "a very expensive piece of art," according to the organisers. Other fighters will receive iPads.
"Last year, our team was given a quad bike, one for all of them," Laishev said. "A good thing, indeed, but they spent six months trying to share it and finally sold it."
Van Damme will also attend the event, just as he did last year. The actor was expected on Thursday with his girlfriend and his dog.
"They had to change the flight because the dog was not allowed into the airplane in Bangkok," the organisers said. Since he is not paid for coming to Sochi, he has no time commitment and will arrive right when the sparring begins.
Last year, the actor was 'kidnapped' by a driver named Zhorik on his way from the airport to the hotel.
"I don't know where I am," he told his agent on the phone. "But I have to give birthday greetings to someone's grandmother."
After the actor was extracted from a large Armenian party, Plotforma's owner said that he would pick Van Damme up personally at the airport next time to avoid more kidnappings.
Inga Vorobyova
