An undefeated MMA fighter is facing a lifetime ban from boxing after kicking his opponent in the head on his debut. Idris Abdurashidov took part in his first boxing bout at the Ali Boxing Club in Phuket, Thailand on Saturday night.
He faced Bagher Faraji, who entered the fight with two wins from as many outings and was in control heading into the final round. He was seconds away from winning on points when Abdurashidov unleashed a brutal head kick which flattened the Iranian boxer.
The fight was immediately stopped by the referee as several people entered the ring to check on Faraji, who had been knocked out cold. Abdurashidov was quickly disqualified as a result of the illegal move, which handed victory to his opponent.
He did not seem too bothered, though, later taking to social media to boast about the disgraceful kick. He proudly uploaded a video of the incident while bragging that his kick was like a ‘machine gun’ going off.
On Instagram, Abdurashidov wrote: “So he debuted in professional boxing. And disqualification for life, that kick with the leg I threw away with a machine gun!”
The 21-year-old now faces a lifetime ban from boxing and it seems unlikely that any promoters would be willing to take him on regardless. Some fans on X, formerly Twitter, have called for an even stronger punishment to be handed down.
“Needs to be permanently banned from all combat sports and charged,” wrote @CodyScary, while @dee_perflex said: “He should lose his fighting license and be fined a few million.”
@BOLTHYPE added: “That’s a disgrace to martial artists everywhere. Absolutely unacceptable. Disgusting. Fight fair, obey the rules.” @ItsTheD0n said: “Coward. He should be banned from competing in boxing for life.”
@EdgarAlvarezzzz, meanwhile, posted: “So he was losing the fight and he thought throwing a kick to the head in a boxing match would get him the victory? What a moron.”
Faraji also shared videos of the incident on his own Instagram story, including a picture of Abdurashidov on the ground. It remains to be seen if the latter’s unsportsmanlike conduct will have a negative impact on his MMA career going forward.
Abdurashidov has won all four of his professional MMA bouts and currently competes in the ONE Championship. He is a highly-rated prospect and stopped Kazakbai Tilenov on his ONE FC debut last month.
