Friday night the Red Devil Sports Club will unleash their team against 10 of America’s up-n-coming MMA fighters on the Russia vs. USA Mixed Fighting Championship card also known as the “Russian Invasion” show.
They may also be wondering what is “mixed fighting”, when did it start and has anybody we would know fought in this event? And of course, one has to ask “are these guys they are sending over any good?” Well, some of these questions are easier to answer than others.
Mix-Fight Events
Although the Mix-Fight events didn’t start international tournaments until 1997, the “mix-fight” style bouts have taken place on military installations since 1979. These were more of the secretive, “closed door” matches and not held for public view. In 1981, the Russian military began holding hand-to-hand fighting championship tournaments twice a year and then in 1992 they openly accepted this style of fighting in the armed forces.
The St. Petersburg Mix Fight Federation was founded in 1996 and quickly became a member of the I.M.A. or International Mix Fight Association, a ruling body comprised of 14 countries and the organization by which the M-1 and mix fight bouts are governed. Since 1997, tournaments have been held twice a year at the Jubileini Sports Complex and the events adopted the theme “Russia vs. The World”. Then in 2002, the theme and semi-annual tournament format were sold and the Mix Fight Championship or M.F.C. was born.
The Mixed Fight Championships are promoted by Vadim Finkelchtein, presided over by Viktor Lamonov and directed by Stanislav Khramov. They also receive considerable media coverage from Igor Khlystoun, Chief Editor of Combat Sport magazine (also the Mix Fight designer), Public Relations Director Vlad Korolev and from a weekly MMA television show presented on a major Russian TV channel. Eleven M-1 events are currently available on video including events with Gilbert Yvel, Andrei Semenov and Amar Suloev.