MMA fighter banned from boxing ‘for life’ after KOing opponent with head kick on debut

Idris Abdurashidov later claimed he and Bagher Faraji had ‘shaken hands’ and ‘made up’

MMA fighter Idris Abdurashidov claimed he has been banned from boxing ‘for life’, after knocking out his opponent with a head kick on his debut in the sport.

Abdurashidov is 4-0 in mixed martial arts with four first-round knockouts, including one inside 18 seconds and within 22 seconds.

And the Russian, 21, landed a KO on his boxing debut on Sunday (20 October) – just not a legal one.

Abdurashidov was under pressure from Bagher Faraji in round four of their fight in Thailand, when he threw a head kick that knocked out the unbeaten Iranian.

Faraji was out cold immediately, falling to the mat facefirst as the referee waved off the bout, disqualifying Abdurashidov.

The Russian later posted footage of the incident on Instagram, claiming in the caption: “So I debuted in professional boxing, and disqualification for life.”

Abdurashidov then shared another post, showing himself and Faraji shaking hands, with the caption reading: “We shook hands between us, everything is fight, we made up.”

Users were quick to condemn Abdurashidov on Instagram, with one writing: “You were getting embarrass[ed] and you had to cheat. Classless and I’m glad you’re banned for life. 0-1 boxing.”

Another said, “The [head] kick and running away [around] the ring, if it had continued for another thirty seconds, you would have been knocked out, while one wrote: “u should be banned from competing in all combat sports.”

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Abdurashidov’s Instagram bio suggests that, alongside his 4-0 MMA record, the Russian is 3-0 in Muay Thai.