'Disqualification for life': Boxer's horrifying act in professional debut
Updated . First published at
Undefeated mixed martial arts fighter Idris Abdurashidov is staring down a lifetime ban from boxing after knocking out his opponent with an illegal head kick during his debut bout on Sunday AEDT.
Boasting a 4-0 MMA record, Abdurashidov entered the ring for his professional boxing debut against Iranian Bagher Faraji in Phuket, Thailand.
The Russian appeared to be losing the fight when he decided to take care of the situation in the fourth and final round.
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Idris Abdurashidov completes an illegal head kick. X
After taking a heavy body shot, Abdurashidov unleashed an illegal head kick on his unsuspecting Iranian opponent.
The kick landed flush on the right side of Faraji's head, immediately knocking him out cold.
As Faraji crashed to the canvas, his team jumped into the ring to rush to his aid.
Abdurashidov was quickly disqualified for the illegal act.
But in a surprise move, Abdurashidov later shared footage of the incident to his Instagram account to boast about the KO.
"Disqualification for life, that leg kick I threw [was] a machine gun," he said in the caption which has been translated from Russian.
The video remains on his profile.
In a subsequent post uploaded on Wednesday morning, Abdurashidov shared a photo of him and Faraji locking hands.
"We shook hands between us, everything is fine, we made up," text over the image said.
Abdurashidov is yet to be handed his punishment from boxing officials, with his MMA career also hanging in the balance because of the severity of the breach.
The 21-year-old signed with combat sports promoters ONE Championship in May — a deal that is now facing the chop.
The boxing world was stunned by Abdurashidov's cheating behaviour with fight fans making their feelings known online.
"This was very unprofessional and put the life of his Iranian opponent, Bagher Faraji, in grave danger," a user wrote on X.
"I think, like many others, that he should be given a more severe punishment for his very unprofessional action."
