For centuries, duels have captivated audiences not just with the desire to know who would emerge victorious but also with their visual spectacle. Modern media technologies have fueled this genre even further. Trailers, highlight reels, viral videos—all of this works in favor of the stars and their massive fanbase. Bare-knuckle fights, pop-MMA, and brawls on YouTube have become phenomena. Millions of people eagerly follow the fates of the fighters. Journalist and fight industry researcher Alexey Alekhin discusses how bare-knuckle fights became a national sport in Russia in his book "Meat Grinder: How Russia Fell in Love with Blood Sports." With permission from the publishing house Individuum, "Lenta.ru" presents an excerpt from the text.
The Pop-MMA Virus in Russia
Slightly drunk and relaxed, you sit in a Moscow strip club—when suddenly UFC President Dana White writes directly to you, asking for a call right now. What’s even more important is that you hardly speak English. Amiran Sardarov initially agreed but then panicked.
“I started to panic… I call my manager and say, ‘Do you have anyone here who speaks English?’” he recalled on Georgy Dzgoyev’s podcast Main Event 1.
It was clear what White wanted to discuss. Amiran had his unique MMA promotion "Battle for Hype," but Dana was a fan of his side project "Stone Faces," where burly men stood face-to-face and slapped each other in turn—often resulting in concussions and broken jaws. Videos of knockouts from the show garnered millions of views and were discussed by Joe Rogan, shared by White’s champions, and appreciated by the MMA audience in general.
The manager returned with a stripper dressed only to the waist. In the hallway, the phone reception was poor, so he told her to get dressed.
“Are you picking me up?” the stripper asked in surprise.
7November 2019, Moscow, night. Amiran Sardarov is outside talking via a stripper-translator with the most powerful MMA promoter in the world. White wants to buy "Stone Faces" for the UFC Fight Pass service, where subscribers gain access to a library of UFC fights, live event broadcasts, and partner content. The conversation goes well, and White and Sardarov agree to meet in Los Angeles in a month.
8Amiran, the Surprise Lover
In 2019, Amiran Sardarov was one of the most popular YouTube bloggers in Russia.
His channel "Diary of Khacha" had 2.9 million subscribers, and Ksenia Sobchak called him the "Andrey Malakhov of Russian YouTube."
"Diary of Khacha" started as a GoPro vlog about Amiran and his surroundings, a mix of "Dom-2" and the series "Friends." Amiran's main source of income came from Lions Media 2, which produced custom content—turnkey YouTube channels, viral videos, and production work. According to Amiran, in 2019, the agency employed nearly 50 people with an average salary of 150,000–200,000 rubles. (...)
How Slaps Became a Global Hit
Amiran invested in "Battle for Hype," but it was "Stone Faces" that became a global sensation, which he himself considered secondary and "unpromising." However, "Stone Faces" showcased his talent for accelerating already known formats and characters.
9The idea of slap tournaments didn’t originate in Russia. Amiran's future partner Kirill Sarychev was inspired by a viral YouTube video from a tattoo convention in Texas in 2015 (73.6 million views at the time of the book's publication), where angry Mexicans fiercely slapped each other. In 2018, Sarychev included slaps in the program of his Sarychev Power Expo festival in Moscow, where they became a hit with guests and the media. In "sports slaps," participants took turns hitting each other, using only their dominant hand, open palm, and fingers on the cheek.
Anyone who wanted could participate. At the festival in Krasnoyarsk in March 2019, the world of slaps found its charismatic hero.
A 29-year-old, 168-kilogram farmer from the town of Ilansk, Vasily (Pelmen) Kamotsky, with a thick beard and the direct gaze of a hero from a Vasnetsov painting, easily knocked people off their feet with slaps.
0Pelmen's video from the festival garnered 14 million views. Viewers from all over the world became fans of Vasily, and publications like the Guardian and Sports Illustrated wrote about him.
In "Stone Faces," Amiran made Pelmen the central character. In his profile, Vasily shared his dream of a new combine harvester (his old ones constantly broke down, and quality parts were unavailable). Amiran made a call on air—and the farmer received over a million rubles in donations.
Kamotsky had a goal that people were interested in supporting, and he also realized his strength and tried not to hit too hard. Moreover, the Siberian farmer appeared strikingly normal compared to his opponents, who were referred to in the comments as freaks—like the 140-kilogram "Satanist" with a mohawk, Kirill "Hands-Bazuki" Tereshin with synthol injected into his biceps, and "zombiboy" Dani Beliy—with a split tongue and eyes painted black (he weighed 107 kilograms less than Vasily—no wonder "zombiboy" fell after the first hit). By November 2019, Kamotsky's dream came true—a new combine worth 6 million rubles arrived for him.
Vasily funded most of the amount with a government subsidy for supporting farmers, but he is confident he wouldn't have received it without the fame he gained from the slaps.
"Stone Faces" had the same vibe of carnival fun as "Battle for Hype." Participants included freaks, hype-chasers, tough guys bored with everyday life, and even Amiran's security guards.
1The second big star of "Faces" was Denis "Big Daddy" Vildanov—a 220-kilogram strongman and former American football player, whose knockout slaps, despite his size, were swift and powerful. Co-host Edward Bil added a specific humor, referring to the participants' faces as "***sossinas."
Prize money lay on the table next to ammonia, which participants sniffed to regain their composure. In the first episodes, the prize fund was 100,000 rubles. In case of a draw, it was split evenly.
All nine episodes of "Stone Faces" amassed one hundred million views. The striking fragments of the show went viral worldwide, and tournaments began to be held in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Ukraine, and Poland.
The competitions featured knockouts but lacked aggression.
Sarychev referred to slaps as "the TikTok of the martial arts world," because the format showcased the most thrilling moment of any fight rules—trading blows.
However, here, it was forbidden to dodge or move your head, and the anticipation of being hit was a challenge in itself. Additionally, unlike in fights, there was no need to train endurance and many other skills, and anyone could participate. Most came just to gain fame, and Amiran gradually reduced the prize fund of the show.
It was financially more rewarding to participate in fights than in slaps, as seen in the case of Big Daddy, who competed in both slaps and "Battle for Hype." After exchanging three slaps (there were supposed to be five) with 150-kilogram strongman Rodion Sukman, both agreed to a draw and split the prize of 150,000 rubles. Big Daddy suffered a broken nose and his first concussion.
For a fight on "Battle," Vildanov earned about 300,000 rubles, but here he received 75,000 rubles, and due to injuries, he was out of action for a month.
The first major issue with slaps became the frequent fouls—hitting the cheek with fingers was very challenging, so slaps often landed on the ear, nose, and neck. The second issue was the high risk of injury due to the ban on dodging. While a fighter can minimize damage even against a strong opponent, here it was impossible. In August 2019, 23-year-old blogger German Akhmedov suffered a broken jaw with displacement.
Participants began to wear mouthguards, but it didn’t help Roman Plotnikov—a 95-kilogram man with the tattoo "Hey guys, welcome to Hell" on his forehead, whose jaw was broken by the 220-kilogram Big Daddy with the first slap. After two jaw fractures, Amiran and Sarychev considered shutting down the project but