Oleg Sorokanyuk died by suicide shortly after his gym became the subject of a criminal investigation. 

Law enforcement in the Transbaikal region in Russia have been accused of driving a local martial arts champion to suicide.

Oleg Sorokanyuk’s body was found on Nov. 10. at a local children’s martial arts school that he founded earlier this year. The 32-year-old’s death was ruled as a probable suicide, though reports have since emerged shedding light on the circumstances leading up to the athlete’s death.

According to local Transbaikal new outlet Chita,ru, which first broke the story on Sorokanyuk’s passing, the athlete’s death took place shortly after he was interrogated by local law enforcement over allegations that one of his trainers had physically assaulted several children during a summer camp at his facility.

The reports were later confirmed by Transbaikal Minister of Sports Andrey Seredkin, who clarified that Sorokanyuk was merely a witness in the case.

“We talked with him, and Oleg said that the case did not concern him,” Seredkin said. “He was only there as a witness. In my opinion, there are more questions for another guy, whose name is Andrei.”

In October 2022, a criminal investigation was launched into Andrei Yemtsov, a 24-year-old former student of Sorokanyuk who was later hired as a trainer for the children’s summer martial arts camp. Yemtsov was accused of assaulting two young children with his first, as well as a rolling pin.

While Sorokanyuk, who also served as the president of the Federation of Pankration and MMA in Transbaikalia, was not named as an assailant, he was criticized by the authorities for hiring a trainer with no prior experience teaching martial arts or children.

“The junior coach who did not have a pedagogical education, having taken on the functions of an educator, systematically beat two young boys,” the Trans-Baikal Territory Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement. “Employees of the sports school, by verbal agreement, without drawing up an employment contract, allowed outsiders who do not have the skills to work with children to work with children.”

Elena Khzanyan, the journalist who first broke the story for Chita,ru and whose own child trained under Sorokanyuk, accused local authorities of driving the athlete to suicide through their ongoing investigation—a view that was reiterated by Sorokanyuk’s family.

“He did not have the strength to fight against the system,” Khzanyan said on the VKontakte social network. “I really want all caring people who know Oleg not to ignore this.”

Both the Ministry of Internal Affairs for Transbaikalia and the local prosecutor’s office refused to comment on the situation or confirm whether an investigation will be conducted into the actions of the employees involved in assessing the criminal case.

Sorokanyuk was a three-time Russian and European champion in universal karate, as well as an avid practitioner of sambo, taekwondo, kickboxing and judo. He leaves behind a wife and a young daughter.

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Zane Simon & Connor Ruebusch are back to break down this week’s UFC event at the Apex facility in Las Vegas, NV. With picks and odds for every fight on the card. From Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac in the main event down to Natalia Silva vs. Tereza Bleda in the opening prelim.

We’re now one week removed from UFC 281, which means we’ve got a pretty severe downgrade in fight card quality to look forward to. In the main event, Serghei Spivac hopes to insert his name into the stack of rising heavyweight contenders with a victory over Derrick Lewis. The card drops sharply in notoriety from there.

For fans interested in diving deeper into the undercard, check out the Prelims Vivi below.

June M. Williams

The MMA Vivisection is brought to you by ‘The Fine Art of Violence’, a collection of art and essays recapping the year in MMA by Chris Rini, featuring the most talented artists and writers in Mixed Martial Arts. The book is available in both hard copy and digital formats at chrisrini.com.

Here’s a look at the UFC Vegas 65 fight card as it stood at the time of recording:

ESPN+ MAIN CARD | 4pm/1pm ET&PT
Derrick Lewis vs. Serghei Spivac — Picks, Both: Lewis
Ion Cutelaba vs. Kennedy Nzechukwu — Picks, Both: Nzechukwu
Chase Sherman vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta — Picks, Zane: Cortes-Acosta, Connor: Sherman
Andre Fialho vs. Muslim Salikhov — Picks, Both: Salikhov
Jack Della Maddalena vs. Danny Roberts — Picks, Both: Della Maddalena

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 1pm/10am ET&PT
Charles Johnson vs. Zhalgas Zhumagulov — Picks, Both: Zhumagulov
Jennifer Maia vs. Maryna Moroz — Picks, Both: Moroz
Vince Morales vs. Miles Johns — Picks, Both: Johns
Kevin Natividad vs. Ricky Turcios — Picks, Both: Natividad
Vanessa Demopoulos vs. Maria Oliveira — Picks, Zane: Oliveira, Connor: Demopolous
Brad Hiestand vs. Fernie Garcia — Picks, Both: Hiestand
Natalia Silva vs. Tereza Bledá — Picks, Zane: Bledá, Connor: Silva

For those of you following the picks made on the show, we started tracking them with the July 13th, 2020 Vivisection shows for UFC Fight Island 1: ‘Kattar vs. Ige’. So far, here are the overall standings:

• For our last event, UFC 281: Adesanya vs. Pereiera: Zane & Connor picked 100% the same for the first time, they went 7/14 for an even 50%
• Overall from UFC Fight Island 1 through UFC 281: Zane is now at 770/1194 for 64.49% and Connor is now at 724/1194 for 60.64%
• So far, in 2022: Zane is at 300/457 for 65.65% and Connor is at 282/457 for 61.71%
• 2021: Zane went 305/493 for 62% and Connor went 285/493 for 58%
• July-Dec 2020: Zane went 164/244 for 67% and Connor went 157/244 for 64%
• Reference: Vivi Picks Stats_11.17.22.pdf

If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels. Check out the new MMA Vivi Facebook Page, where the shows always drop an hour earlier than they do anywhere else on the network, be sure to “Like”, Follow, Share — At: https://www.facebook.com/TheMMAVivi.

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Veteran Matt Brown is one of the few ones who think Israel Adesanya should’ve been made to fight on during the final moments of UFC 281.

Most people are on board with referee Marc Goddard’s stoppage of UFC 281’s headliner between Israel Adesanya and Alex Pereira. For Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi, Goddard essentially saved Adesanya’s career from a potential scissor knee from Pereira that he said, could’ve been career-ending.

For his part, “The Last Stylebender” agreed with the stoppage but at the same time, he feels he should’ve been allowed to go out on his shield.

“My ego would say at least let me go out on my shield. But I don’t think I could’ve gone out ‘cause I was still there. I’ve seen worse stoppages. F—ng bring back Steve Mazzagatti,” Adesanya said during the post-fight media scrum early Sunday morning.

“Bring back Steve Mazzagatti, I would’ve been fine. He might’ve won that round, but I’d still be champion.”

UFC veteran Matt Brown was a recent guest on MMAFighting.com’s The Fighter vs. The Writer podcast and he shares the same sentiment.

“We don’t want to err on the side of caution. We’d rather get flatlined and be carried out on a stretcher. That’s just the risk that we’re willing to take. I understand with commissions and there are actual health practitioners that judge this stuff and watch it and politicians.

“There’s all these things in play that have an effect on this but us as fighters, I guarantee there’s not a single one of us that doesn’t want to go out on our shield or on a stretcher.

“We’ll die in there. We’re never going to say it’s too late. That’s kind of where I’m at with that. I’m with Izzy, bring back Steve Mazzagatti. Let’s let these fights just go. I like that he said that personally.”

If it were up to him, Brown would’ve let the action continue a little longer. The fight was stopped at the 2:01 mark of the final round, which meant Adesanya still had a little less than three minutes to try and survive while absorbing Pereira’s shots.

“I didn’t think it was a bad stoppage but I would have liked to see him let it go longer,” he explained. “I don’t hate that he stopped it the way that he did, the time he did but I would have liked to see it [continue]. If I was the ref, I would have let it go longer.

“The fact is I don’t think Izzy was getting out of there. I don’t think Izzy thought he was getting out of there. I don’t think anybody thinks he was going to get out of there but in this sport, we have seen crazier things.

“This sport just never fails to blow your mind. I would have liked to see him given the chance and I would have given him the chance but I also don’t hate the ref for stopping it when he did. I mean he was taking shots and when he did stop it, Izzy took a really, really hard shot.”

Adesanya’s record dropped to 23-2 after UFC 281.

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Ibraheem Yazeed faces three possible death penalties.

A grand jury in Alabama has handed down three capital murder indictments to Ibraheem Yazeed, 32 (per AL.com). Yazeed is accused of killing 19-year-old Aniah Blanchard, the daughter of UFC heavyweight Walt Harris.

The three indictments are for capital murder during a kidnapping, capital murder during a robbery and capital murder involving a victim in a vehicle. All these counts carry a possible death sentence (or life in prison) if Yazeed is found guilty.

Yazeed has been jailed in Lee County, AL since November, 2019. His arrest, in Pensacola, FL, came around two weeks after Blanchard had been reported missing. Blanchard, a student at Southern Union College, was last seen outside a convenience store in Homewood, AL after encountering Yazeed inside the store.

Authorities believe Yazeed kidnapped Blanchard in the parking lot of that store, using Blanchard’s vehicle. Authorities also believe that Yazeed killed Blanchard inside that vehicle. Her remains were later discovered in a wooded area in Macon County, AL.

Yazeed was arrested on suspicion of killing Blanchard while he was out on bail for a separate, and unconnected, attempted murder case.

10 months before Blanchard went missing, Yazeed was charged over an incident that allegedly occurred inside a hotel room. In that room, authorities believe Yazeed beat a 77-year-old man almost to death and robbed him of a Rolex, rifle, handguns, wallet, bank card and clothing.

Yazeed was also charged with attempted murder in 2012 after he was accused of ramming a police vehicle with his car in Montgomery, AL. A grand jury declined to indict him on any charges stemming from that incident.

The death of Blanchard has lead to the passing of ‘Aniah’s Law’ on November 8, during the U.S. Midterm Elections. That legislation was spearheaded by Blanchard’s family. Prior to that law passing, judges could only withhold bail from individuals charged with capital murder. Now, judges are permitted to jail individuals indefinitely if they have been charged with first degree kidnapping, rape, sodomy, domestic violence, human trafficking, burglary, arson and robbery as well as aggravated child abuse, sexual torture and terrorism.

Opponent’s of Aniah’s Law have claimed that the law gives too much power to courts to hold people who are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Jerome Dees of the Southern Povery Law Center said the law will lead to people “languishing in Alabama’s jails for years at a time” without ever being convicted.

Alabama already has one of the highest incarceration rates of any democracy on earth (according to Prison Policy). In 2021 the state had 938 per 100,000 people held in prisons, jails, immigration detention centres and juvenile justice facilities. This is around 300 more people that the US national average.

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The NSAC set a fascinating new precedent on Wednesday, suspending Ilir Latifi for an undisclosed staph infection heading into his bout against Aleksei Oleinik.

In October, UFC heavyweight Ilir Latifi admitted, after his win over Aleksei Oleinik at UFC Vegas 61, that he had fought with an undisclosed staph infection. On Wednesday, November 16th, the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) voted unanimously to suspended Latifi for three months for failing to notify officials of the condition before the bout.

“Even this week, you see my leg is all swollen,” Latifi told UFC commentator Paul Felder after his win over Oleinik. “I didn’t even tell my coaches, but I got a staph infection two days ago. And as you can see here, my leg is all swollen. It’s an amazing sport but the margins are so small. You put in so much work and this thing happens the last day.

“Today, actually when I woke up, my leg was swollen,” continued Latifi. “I was like, ‘I can’t cancel again,’ so I had to fight like this with a fever and a staph infection. But that’s part of being a fighter.”

The NSAC temporarily suspended Latifi in the days after the fight. Wednesday’s athletic commission meeting was the group’s first chance to address Latifi’s decision to compete without disclosing the infectious illness, which can be transmitted through person-to-person contact. Latifi put his opponent, his team and everyone he came into contact with at risk by not disclosing his infection on his pre-fight medical documentation.

Latifi, who was also assessed $ 407.50 in legal fees, is eligible to return to action—pending a clean medical exam—on January 1, 2023.

During the hearing, the NSAC noted that the issue of Latifi not disclosing his staph infection on his pre-fight documentation was a precedent-setting action. Previously, the commission had not suspended any fighter for failing to disclose an illness or injury. The commission added that “suspensions may be increased and fines may be increased depending on the situation.”

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Alexander Gustafsson has pulled out of his UFC 282 bout with Ovince St. Preux, and Philipe Lins is filling in for him.  

Alexander Gustafsson will not be competing against Ovince St. Preux at UFC 282 on December 10th, 2022.

MMA Junkie originally reported that OSP claimed on his social media that Gus has pulled out of their upcoming fight. Filling in for Gustafsson will be a former PFL champion in Philipe Lins.

No official reason has surfaced as to why Gus has dropped out, and the UFC’s official website still has Alexander listed as St. Preux’s opponent for UF 282. This seems like one of those situations where it appears as though the UFC is the last to know about these changes, which should be impossible.

Philipe Lins saw a mixed bag of results during his tenure with Bellator at 205-pounds, but then rose to the top in the PFL as a heavyweight. He is currently 1-2 in his UFC stint, starting out with back-to-back defeats at heavyweight before dropping back down to light heavyweight to secure a win.

It’s hard to believe that OSP and Gus haven’t crossed paths already. They’ve both been in the UFC for over nine-years, they have both dabbled in the heavyweight division, and share six common opponents. I guess we will have to wait even longer for this seemingly inevitable matchup. For now, it’s OSP vs. Lins on the docket.

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Chris Rini

You can see some new drawings of Israel Adesanya and Dustin Poirier vs Michael Chandler while I talk about which fights from UFC 281 will be included in The Fine Art of Violence: 2022 over on my new YouTube channel. Take care of yourself and I’ll talk to you Monday.

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The 2022 tournament finale card will be held on November 25th at the Hulu Theater in New York, NY.

The Professional Fighters League is all set to become the latest MMA property to dip into the high-end event market. Back in 2019 the US-based promotion signed on with UFC broadcast partner ESPN, to air PFL fight cards on ESPN 2, ESPN Deportes, and ESPN+. Several years later they’re all set to try their first PPV card on ESPN’s streaming platform.

Ever since the first UFC hit the airwaves in 1993, mixed martial arts has gone hand-in-hand with pay-per-view broadcasting. In that time, however, few companies outside the Endeavor-owned promotion have found much in the way of financial gain from attempting to break into that exclusive broadcast marketplace.

In 2014 Bellator made their first (and only) PPV event, featuring a light heavyweight contest between ‘Rampage’ Jackson and ‘King Mo’ Lawal in the main event—bringing in a mere estimated 100,000 buys in the process. Famous promotional disaster Affliction, didn’t do much better, garnering 175,000 buys in their second (of two) PPV, headlined by a heavyweight bout between Fedor Emelianenko and Andrei Arlovski.

Can PFL succeed where others have failed? Alongside their six one-million-dollar tournament title fights, the promotion appears to be banking heavily on a main event between multiple-time tournament winner and former Judo gold-medalist Kayla Harrison against two-time past foe and former UFC talent Larissa Pacheco. The card was also set to host a featherweight bout between Shane Burgos and Marlon Moraes, however an injury to Burgos has resulted in fellow former UFC fighter Sheymon Moraes stepping up in his stead.

Fans who want to witness the action live will find themselves facing a $ 49.99 price tag for the privilege, as announced by the PFL on Tuesday, November 15th.

PFL 10 – 2022 Season takes place on November 25th on ESPN+. Here’s a look at the card as it stands now:

ESPN+ PPV MAIN CARD | 8pm/5pm ET&PT
Kayla Harrison vs. Larissa Pacheco
Brendan Loughnane vs. Bubba Jenkins
Ante Delija vs. Matheus Scheffel
Stevie Ray vs. Olivier Aubin-Mercier
Dilano Taylor vs. Sadibou Sy
Omari Akhmedov vs. Rob Wilkinson
Aspen Ladd vs. Julia Budd

ESPN+ PRELIMS | 6pm/3pm ET&PT
Marlon Moraes vs. Sheymon Moraes
Jeremy Stephens vs. Natan Schulte
Magomed Magomedkerimov vs. Gleison Tibau
Dakota Ditcheva vs. Katherine Corogenes
Biaggio Ali Walsh vs. Tom Graesser

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The former lightweight champ says he’s ‘hearbroken’ after suffering yet another KO loss in what looks to be the final fight of his MMA career.

Every fighter wants to say that they walked away on a win. That they knew just when to hang up their gloves and that they ended their career exclusively on their own terms. Reality is rarely ever so kind.

Unfortunately for Frankie Edgar, that’s a lesson he learned full well this past Saturday night at UFC 281 on the PPV main card. Set up against surging bantamweight Chris Gutierrez, Edgar found himself on the wrong end of his third-straight knockout loss—just two minutes into the first round. After the bout, even Gutierrez seemed a bit broken up by what he’d just done to the former lightweight champion.

For his part, Edgar took some time to reflect on his latest defeat and what—at least for now—appears to be the end of his career as a mixed martial arts fighter.

“Obviously, (I’m) heartbroken,” Edgar said on a recent episode of ‘The Champ and the Tramp’ podcast (transcript via MMA Junkie). “That’s not the way I wanted it to go, but that’s the way it goes. I had a great week, awesome week out there. It was incredible, the love I got from everybody. The UFC gave me love, the little video that they did. From my peers, my peers are the most important. … I was zooming in the back. I felt like I was on in the back. I go out there and boom. Obviously, you saw it. Everybody saw it.”

“It f-cking sucks but how can I complain, to be honest?” Edgar added. “People were cheering my name the whole time before, during, after. I worked hard to get where I got, like f-cking hard, very hard. I sacrificed a lot in my life. I put my all into my athletic career since Day 1, but who am I to complain? There are people out there who work hard and they just make it by. I know both sides of that. I’m just trying to be grateful for what I accomplished, for the ride I had.”

Edgar won his first bid for UFC gold all the way back in 2010, with a decision victory over BJ Penn. Over the next decade the ‘Answer’ would compete for some form of a UFC title eight more times, including his pair of legendary fights against Gray Maynard. If this truly is the end of the line for the 41-year-old, he’s put together a remarkable career across three divisions inside the Octagon.

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Episode 206 discussion: UFC 281 rewind, Sean O’Malley’s penis injections, Volkanovski defends his activity level, Ngannou’s contract situation, more

Welcome to ‘The Level Change Podcast’, our combat sports themed variety show hosted by Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez. Featuring the news of the week, fight card breakdowns and analysis, a roundup of regional promotions’ cards and fights; and whatever else we decide is important enough or entertaining enough to bring to your ears. Here is a summary of the topics discussed, complete with the time stamps for when each interview or special segment begins. As always, we hope you enjoy listening to the show as much as we enjoyed recording it.

June M. Williams

EPISODE 206

UFC 281 storylines: Poatan takes belt, Weili regains belt, Dustin stops Chandler, more – 3:50

https://www.tapology.com/fightcenter/events/91828-ufc-281

Volkanovski responds to critics about activity – 38:48

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2022/11/12/23454782/ufc-mma-news-interview-media-alexander-volkanovski-islam-makhachev-fight

Ngannou says things still unresolved with UFC – 45:51

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2022/11/12/23454398/francis-ngannou-contract-situation-with-the-ufc-hasnt-been-sorted-mma-news

Suga Sean gets stem cell injection in a sensitive area – 55:28

https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2022/11/12/23454641/video-ufc-star-sean-omalley-says-he-got-stem-cell-penis-enlargement-shots

OTHER NOTABLE MOMENTS FROM COMBAT SPORTS – 1:05

Jose Delgado’s head kick KO of Jorge Juarez

Jose Delgado landed this head kick on Jorge Juarez at Freedom Fight Night 3 on Friday pic.twitter.com/OUj2fuVeyR

— Alex Behunin (@AlexBehunin) November 6, 2022

Drake curse alive and well

DRAKE DROPPED $2M CAD ON ISRAEL ADESANYA 😳

(via @Drake) pic.twitter.com/gW4olBM1lU

— br_betting (@br_betting) November 13, 2022

Emiliano Vargas KO of Julio Martinez

This Vargas kid is someone to keep an eye on pic.twitter.com/GsKEIb8Qmz

— Dan Canobbio (@DanCanobbio) November 13, 2022

Glover’s reaction

The corner reaction from @GloverTeixeira and team @AlexPereiraUFC says it all! 🤯 #UFC281 pic.twitter.com/dYLoRU9Jxe

— UFC Europe (@UFCEurope) November 13, 2022

Diaz slaps Dillon Danis’ friend

Nate Diaz slaps Dillion danis outside Madison square garden after #ufc281 pic.twitter.com/6pUHZQG1fJ

— Noooodles (@nooulez) November 13, 2022

Follow our Twitter accounts: Stephie Haynes and Victor Rodriguez and our show account The Level Change Podcast. If you enjoy our variety of shows, give us a shout out in the comments here on Bloody Elbow, and give us a “like”, share & subscribe on your BE Presents Podcast platform of choice: SoundCloud, YouTube, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, Spotify, TuneIn, OverCast, Player FM, & Amazon Music – For previous episodes, check out our playlists on any of our BE Presents channels.

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