Azerbaijani athlete Cavid Rzayev has been stripped of his Russian citizenship.
Idman.biz reports that this was announced by the regional department of the Russian Federal Security Service.
In the summer of 2024, Cavid defeated Russian Sergey Prikhodko at a pop-MMA tournament organized by Hardcore FC in Moscow. After the fight, he argued with another athlete, Artur Kulinski, calling him a "Russian pig." The athlete later apologized, explaining his words with his anger. Rzayev emphasized that his thoughts were directed not against nationality, but against a specific person.
It was reported that Cavid, born in 1993, received Russian citizenship in 2020.
As a result of the scandal, the Russian Boxing Federation banned Rzayev from all competitions for life, and Hardcore FC promotion was temporarily deprived of its license to hold fights in a neighboring country.
Idman.biz